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 ,. 3 1924 030 274 777 
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SPECULATIVE MASONRY 
 
Speculative Masonry 
 
 Its Mission, its Evolution, 
 and its Landmarks 
 
 BEING A SERIES OF LECTURES DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 LODGE OF INSTRUCTION IN CONNECTION WITH 
 
 LODGE PROGRESS, GLASGOW, No. 873 
 
 A. S. MACBRIDE, J.P. 
 
 p. Dep. Pb. G.M., Dohbakton; P.M. of Leven Sx. John, No. 170, 
 AND Progress, Glasgow, No. 873 
 
 GLASGOW : 
 T>. GILFILLAN & CO., PRINTERS, 19 CANDLERIGGS 
 
 1914 
 
 ^Copyright in United Kiniiom and Colonies, also United States »f AtXeriiay 
 T,.0 ' 
 
THE BRETHREN 
 OF HIS MOTHER-LODGE, 
 
 LEVEN ST JOHN, No. 170; 
 
 WHOSE LOVING TRUST STIMULATED 
 HIS EARLY EFFORTS IN MASONIC WORK : 
 
 AND TO 
 THE BRETHREN OF LODGE 
 
 PROGRESS, GLASGOW, No. 873; 
 
 WHOSE WARM SYMPATHY ENCOURAGED 
 
 AND WHOSE GENEROUS SUPPORT CONSUMMATED 
 
 THE PRODUCTION OF THIS STONE FOR THE TEMPLE t 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
 WITH FRATERNAL AFFECTION AND RESPECT 
 
 DEDICATES THIS VOLUME. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This book is a, revision and condensation of several lectures 
 delivered^to the Lodge of Instruction, in connection with Lodge 
 Progress/Glasgow. At the urgent request of a large number of the 
 members of the Craft, these are now pubUshed ; mainly through 
 the labours]^of a publicatipn Committee, appointed by that Lodge. 
 
 The author takes this opportunity to acknowledge his 
 indebtedness to the members of that Committee, for the pains 
 they have so freely taken in the publication. He has, also, to 
 thank those brethren who assisted him in putting his rough notes 
 into proper form ; and cannot, without appearing ungrateful, 
 avoid mentioning the names of Br. Alexander Bruce, D.P.G.M. 
 for the Province of Glasgow, and Br. William S. Galbraith, P.M. 
 of Lodge Progress — the former for his very kind criticisms and 
 corrections of the text, and the latter for his most careful revisions 
 of the typography, etc. 
 
 Many pressing duties and demands left the author little time 
 and energy to do justice to his subjects. His studies have been 
 limited to his leisure hours, and the composing of these lectures 
 have merely formed a pleasant relaxation from the strain of a busy 
 business life. He is, therefore, painfully conscious that there must 
 be many imperfections in his work ; but if, notwithstanding these, 
 this volume should prove helpful to the members of the Ancient 
 Craft, he will be greatly gratified and amply rewarded. 
 
 Glasgow, December, 1913. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART I. 
 SPECULATIVE MASONRY— ITS MISSION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE MISSION GENERALLY CONSIDERED. 
 
 PAGE 
 1. THE MEANING OF THE WORDS "MISSION" AND "MASONRY," 1 
 
 2. THE QUEST OF THE IDEAL, 
 
 3. ^THE VARIATION OF THE IDEAL, ... 
 
 4. ^THE MASONIC IDEAL, 
 
 5. THE NATURE OF THE MISSION, ... 
 
 6. IS MASONRY TO-DAY TRUE TO ITS MISSION ? 
 
 3 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE LAW OF THE SQUARE. 
 
 1. THE LAW OF THE SQUARE IN NATURE, ... ... 19 
 
 2. THE LAW OF THE SQUARE IN MATERIAL BUILDING, ... 23 
 
 3. THE LAW OF THE SQUARE IN MORAL BUILDING, ... 25 
 
 4. THE LAW OF THE SQUARE IN THE POINT WITHIN THE 
 
 CIRCLE, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 28 
 
 5. THE LAW OF THE SQUARE IN THE CROSS, ... ... 39 
 
 6. SUMMARY OF THE LAW OF THE SQUARE, ... ... 60 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE QUARRIES, OR THE SELECTION OF THE MATERIAL. 
 
 I. THE MATERIAL SUITABLE, ... ... ... ... 52 
 
 2. THE QUARRIES AVAILABLE, 55 
 
 3. THE PROCESS OF SELECTION, ... ... ... ... 59 
 
X 
 
 CONTENTS 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE LODGE, OR THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1. — THE NATURE OF ITS WORK, ... ... ... ... 67 
 
 2. ITS RELATION TO RELIGION, 
 
 3. ITS RELATION TO THE OUTER WORLD, 
 
 4. — ITS IDEAL PLAN, ... 
 
 6. — ITS COURSE OF INSTRUCTION, 
 
 6. ITS CHIEF END, 
 
 68 
 69 
 71 
 75 
 83 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE TEMPLE, OR THE CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION. 
 
 1. RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT, ... ... ... ... 86 
 
 2. THE TEMPLE OF KING SOLOMON, ... ... ... 89 
 
 3. THE IDEAL TEMPLE, ... ... ... ... ... 100 
 
 PART II. 
 SPECULATIVE MASONRY— ITS EVOLUTION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 ORIGINS ASCRIBED TO MASONRY. 
 
 1. — -THE HISTORICAL DIFFICULTIES, ... ... ... ... 119 
 
 2. SOME OF THE THEORIES ADVANCED, ... ... ... 120 
 
 3. — ITS EVOLUTION MOST LIKELY ALONG THE LINES OF 
 
 OPERATIVE BUILDING,... ... ... ... ... 124 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 ANCIENT SYMBOLISM AND MYSTERIES. 
 
 1.- — ANTIQUITY OF MASONIC SYMBOLISM, 
 2. — THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES, 
 
 127 
 130 
 
CONTENTS XI 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE ROMAN COLLEGIA AND MEDIEVAL GUILDS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I- THE ROMAN COLLEGIA, 132 
 
 2. IDENTITY OF THE COLLEGIA WITH THE GUILDS IN 
 
 ENGLAND, ... ... ... ... 134 
 
 3. IDENTITY OF THE COLLEGIA WITH THE GUILDS IN 
 
 FRANCE, 137 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE FRENCH COMPANIONAGE. 
 
 1. THE THREE ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR TRADITIONS, 141 
 
 2.^ — INTERESTING CUSTOMS AND RULES, ... ... ... 144 
 
 3. THE "WOLVES" OF THE SONS OF SOLOMON AND THE 
 
 MASONIC "LEWIS," ... ... ... ... ... 145 
 
 4. SIMILARITIES OF THE COMPANIONAGE AND FREEMASONRY, 147 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THE GERMAN STEIN-METZEN. 
 
 1. THE NAME AND ORIGIN OF THE ORGANISATION, ... 151 
 
 2. THE CULDEES, ... ... ... ... 153 
 
 3. THE GERMAN GUILDS AND STEIN-METZEN, ... ... 157 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 THE OLD BRITISH LODGES. 
 
 1. THE OLD CHARGES, ... ... ... 161 
 
 2. THE SPECULATIVE ELEMENT IN THE OLD LODGES, ... 165 
 
 3. — -DEGREES IN THE OLD LODGES, ... ... 170 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 1. CHARACTERISTIC POINTS COMMON TO THE ORGANISATIONS 
 
 CONSIDERED, ... ... ... ... 174 
 
 2. CONCLUSION, ... ... ... 181 
 
XII CONTENTS 
 
 PART III. 
 SPECULATIVE MASONRY— ITS LANDMARKS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS. 
 
 PAGE 
 1. WHAT LANDMARKS ARE, ... ... ... ... ... 187 
 
 2. THE DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS, ... ... ... 192 
 
 3. FIRST DIVISION, SECTION A. A SECRET MODE OF 
 
 RECOGNITION BY ITS MEMBERS, ... ... ... 195 
 
 4. FIRST DIVISION, SECTION B. — THE TYLING OF THE LODGE, 198 
 
 5. FIRST DIVISION, SECTION C. THE QUALIFICATIONS OF 
 
 CANDIDATES, ... ... ... ... ... ... 199 
 
 6. SECOND DIVISION, SECTION C. THE CONDITIONS OF 
 
 ADVANCEMENT, ... ... ... ... ... 204 
 
 7. THIRD DIVISION, SECTION A. THE PRINCIPAL POINTS IN 
 
 " OPENING," AND IN " CLOSING " A LODGE, ... ... 207 
 
 8. — THIRD DIVISION, SECTION B. — THE PRINCIPAL POINTS IN 
 
 " ENTERING," " PASSING," AND " RAISING," ... 209 
 
 9. FOURTH DIVISION, SECTION B. THE POWERS AND DUTIES 
 
 OF THE MASTER, AND OFFICERS, AND OF THE LODGE, 213 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 MISCONCEPTIONS REGARDING THE LANDMARKS. 
 
 1. THAT THE LANDMARKS ARE FIXED AND UNALTERABLE, 218 
 
 2. THAT THE LANDMARKS FIX THE LODGE CEREMONIES, 
 
 verbatim et literatim, ... ... ... ... ... 221 
 
 3. — ^HOW MISCONCEPTIONS HAVE BEEN FORMED, ... ... 224 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE LANDMARKS AND PROGRESS. 
 
 1. THE LANDMARKS NO HINDRANCE TO PROGRESS, ... 227 
 
 2. THE TEACHINGS OF HISTORY AND NATURE, ... ... 229 
 
 3. — ^THB TEMPLE OF BROTHERHOOD AND PEACE IS THE 
 
 GREAT LANDMARK, ... ... ... ... ... 232 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 PART I.— ITS MISSION. 
 
 THE LAW OF THE SQUARE IN THE CROSS, ... 
 
 THE TEMPLE OF KING SOLOMON, 
 
 THE PILLARS, 
 
 XIII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 236 
 235 
 236 
 
 PART II.— ITS EVOLUTION. 
 
 THE HISTORICAL DIFFICULTIES, 
 
 237 
 
 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS. 
 
 FOR OPENING OF LODGE, ... ... ... ... ... 240 
 
 FOR CLOSING OP LODGE, ... ... ... ... ... 241 
 
 FOR THE A. DEGREE, ... ... ... ... ... ... 241 
 
 FOR THE C. DEGREE, ... ... ... ... ... ... 243 
 
 FOR THE M. DEGREE, ... ... ... ... ... ... 246 
 
 FOR THE MK.M. CEREMONY, ... ... ... ... ... 250 
 
 ON THE SYMBOLISM OF THE C. DEGREE, ... ... ... 253 
 
 REFLECTIONS AT THE CLOSING OF A YEAR, ... ... ... 253 
 
 AN APOLOGY FOR ABSENCE FROM A FESTIVAL OF LODGE 
 
 LEVEN ST. JOHN, NO. 170, ... ... 254 
 
 ADDRESS TO THE BRETHREN OF LODGE LEVEN ST. JOHN, 
 
 NO. 170, 256 
 
 MASONS' ANTHEM, ... ... ... ... 262 
 
 WHAT IS A MASON ? 263 
 
 THE BIGGIN O' 873, 264 
 
 LINES TO MY FAITHFUL BRETHREN OF LODGE PROGRESS, ... 265 
 
 THE SONG OF PROGRESS, ... 267 
 
SPECULATIVE MASONRY 
 PART I.— ITS MISSION 
 
" It is in and through symbols that man, consciously or 
 unconsciously, Uves, works, and has his being : those ages, 
 moreover, are accounted the noblest which can the best recognise 
 symbolical worth, and prize it the highest." — Carlyle. 
 
 " Confucius was asked ' Is there any one maxim that ought 
 to be acted upon throughout one's whole life ? ' He rephed : 
 ' Surely the maxim of charity is such : — Do not unto others 
 what you would not they should do unto you.' " — "Confucius," 
 by Lionel Giles, M. A . 
 
 " Not all men build alike their lives, some rear their edifice 
 with ease, but most with an infinite labour, after many failures 
 and bitter griefs. Only he is happy who will not be dismayed by 
 grief or failure, and who finds in human love a divine encourage- 
 ment to raise stone upon stone till naught is wanting." — Anon. 
 
 " Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that 
 build it." — Psalm cxxvii. 1. 
 
SPECULATIVE MASONRY. 
 PART I.— ITS MISSION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE MISSION GENERALLY CONSIDERED. 
 
 (1) The Meaning of the words "Mission " and "Masonry." 
 
 Before proceeding to consider our subject in its main 
 aspects, let us endeavour to get a clear conception of what 
 we mean by the words " Mission " and " Masonry." 
 
 " Mission " comes from the Latin word " Missio " 
 — to send, to throw. It is something that is sent or 
 thrown out with a definite object in view. We have the 
 same root in the words " Missile " and " Missive." In 
 a general sense, however, the word now means more the 
 aim and purpose of anything than the thing itself. 
 
 " Masonry " is a word regarding which authorities 
 differ. Various languages have been named as its source. 
 In the different theories advanced, however, we do not 
 find anything conclusive. Probably it comes from some 
 unknown ancient language. It seems to be closely allied 
 with the Greek " Maza," " Massein "—to press or work 
 together, with the Latin " Massa " — a club or society, 
 and, also, with the English word " Mass." The word 
 carries with it, through all the variants known to us, the 
 
2 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 idea of unity. To mass a body of men or troops, for 
 instance, is to bring them into close touch or united 
 action. From this view it appears that masonry is the 
 building together of various units, such as stones, bricks, 
 wood, iron, or human beings, into a compact mass or 
 structure. The mason masses, or builds them together, 
 and the work is masonry. 
 
 Sometimes the word is used in a restricted sense as 
 applicable only to stone-work. This is a narrowing of 
 its true significance. The French " Maison " and the 
 English " Mansion " do not mean stone-work only — they 
 mean a building. The term mason-bee, also, has nothing 
 to do with stone-work. It means a bee that builds. 
 Were the word confined to stone-work, a quarryman 
 would be called a mason. In a similarly narrow sense 
 it is understood by those who insist on the use of the 
 words " Free-Mason " and " Free-Masonry," as necessary 
 to distinguish the speculative craft from the stone-mason 
 and from stone-masonry. They assume that masonry 
 means stone-work and that the word " Free " was 
 introduced to distinguish the Speculative from the 
 Operative mason. But the basis for such an assumption 
 is not apparent in any history of authority. The terms 
 "Freemason" and "Freemasonry" may be used as 
 terms of convenience, commonly understood; but neither 
 etymologically nor historically are they correct. As far 
 back as the records of the Order go, both in Scotland 
 and in England, non-operatives are found as members of 
 the Craft and there does not appear to have been any 
 distinction made between them and operative members. 
 The quEilifications of a candidate for admission to the 
 Order demanded that he should be a " Free-man " and 
 also, that he should be " Accepted " by the lodge. The 
 
THE MISSION GENERALLY CONSIDERED 3 
 
 full and correct term is a " free and accepted mason." 
 This is the term used by the Grand Lodge of Scotland 
 in its title, viz. : — " The Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free 
 and Accepted Masons of Scotland." The full name 
 may be shortened to " Freemason " or to " Mason " 
 for convenience, and as you choose. 
 
 In its essence it appears that the word " Masonry " 
 may be held to mean building, or joining units together 
 into an organised mass, and in this comprehensive sense 
 we will here use it. It may also be rightly applied in a 
 moral, as well as in a material sense. Man is a morjJ, as 
 well as a material builder. He applies material terms to 
 things spiritual, and he instinctively takes material forms 
 as symbols of spiritual truths. Hence, the natural 
 «volution of operative masonry is speculative masonry, 
 and in its highest sense the word Masonry may be used 
 to mean moral building. 
 
 By the phrase " The Mission of Masonry " then, we 
 mean the aim and purpose of Building and, when we 
 apply it to Speculative Masonry, we mean the building 
 morally of humanity into an organised structure, 
 according to a design or plan. 
 
 (2) The Quest of the Ideal. 
 
 At the threshold of every human study the problem 
 of the Quest of the Ideal persistently presents itself. 
 Nowhere in the world of humanity is perfection to be 
 found, yet everywhere men are seeking it. Deep down 
 in the human heart there is a feeling of something 
 awanting. To all, there has been a paradise lost, and 
 there is to be a paradise regained. Man is capable of 
 understanding the plan of life but unable to work it out 
 
4 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 properly. His ideals are perfect, his actuals are failures. 
 He has a divine soul linked to a brutal body, and his 
 visions of heaven are always from a bed of earth. Yet 
 evermore he wrestles with Fate and refuses to be content 
 with the imperfect present. Through constant falling 
 he steps onward. By perpetual failure he progresses. 
 He feels that the true, the good, the beautiful, the perfect, 
 must be somewhere in this universe, or else how does 
 he know the false, the bad, the ugly, the imperfect, in 
 the actual world around him. 
 
 There is an ancient Gaelic poem called " The Poem of 
 Trathal," part of which describes a mother playing a 
 harp to her children, and which translated runs thus : — 
 " Two children with their fair locks rise at her knee. 
 They bend their ears above the harp as she touches with 
 white hands the trembUng strings. She stops. They 
 take the harp themselves but cannot find the sound they 
 admired. ' Why,' they ask, ' does it not answer us ? 
 Show us the string where dwells the song.' She bids 
 them search for it until she returns. Their little fingers 
 wander among the wires." And so, with the children of 
 men. Their fingers wander among the wires of the harp 
 of life. They say, " show us the string where dwells the 
 song." We search for the lost song, the lost harmony 
 of the soul. 
 
 In human history, from the earliest times, we have 
 evidence of the Quest of the Ideal, and it has usually 
 taken the form of searching for that which was lost. Isis 
 searched for her murdered lord and master, Osiris, in the 
 waters of the Nile. Venus cried for her slain Adonis on 
 Mount Libanus. Ceres sought for the lost Prosperine in 
 Eleusis. The sons of Odin searched for the body of 
 Balder in Scandinavia. The Knights of the Round Table 
 
THE MISSION GENERALLY CONSIDERED 5 
 
 travelled in quest of the Holy Grail. The Alchemists 
 strove to wrest from nature the lost secret of life. Thus, 
 in every age and in every land, the Quest of the Ideal 
 has been pursued. It has called into existence in- 
 numerable societies, religious, political, and social, and 
 of these the Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons is 
 one of the greatest, if not the greatest, the world has seen. 
 
 (3) The Variation of the Ideal. 
 
 The Law of Variation prevails in the mental as well 
 as in the material world. There are not two blades of 
 grass alike, there are not two thoughts identical. Dis- 
 satisfaction with the actual produces a thousand 
 satisfactory ideals. For every disease there are a hundred 
 cures. God gives to all the desire for heaven, but each 
 man chooses his pathway. One fine summer day a king 
 walked on a moorland road, troubled and melancholy. 
 Some children were playing at a gate and on the top bar 
 sat a half-clad boy, with fair locks tossing, arms waving, 
 blue eyes dancing, and a voice shouting with glee. The 
 king said, " You seem very happy, my boy." " Happy ! 
 I'm as happy as a king," was the reply. With a sad smile 
 the king asked, " What would you do were you a king ? " 
 " Do," cried the boy, " I'd hae cream parritch and cream 
 tae them an' swing on a yett a' day." 
 
 There are many men whose ideal of life is to have 
 " cream parritch and cream to them an' swing on a yett 
 a' day." They never get beyond the Italian's " dolce 
 far niente " — " sweet doing-nothing." Such an ideal 
 may be innocent, but it is poor and mean. It may be 
 simple and natural, yet it is purely animal. It is that of 
 a child, not that of a man. 
 
€ SPECULAXfVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 To be a millionaire, with the power that wealth gives ; 
 to be a lord, to whom the multitude will beck and bow ; 
 to be the darling hero, whom crowds will assemble to 
 see and cheer ; seem to many the sum of human happiness ; 
 but, " are grapes of thorns or figs of thistles ? " 
 Happiness is not the product of genius, of wealth, or of 
 power. It is not to be pursued and captured. If we aim 
 at it, we are sure to miss it. It comes to us, we cannot 
 go to it. It grows not from anything outside. It wells 
 up from the inner soul like a clear spring from the breast 
 of the hill. It is the offspring of love and obedience. It 
 is of the spirit and not of matter. 
 
 Observation and experience declare this so-called solid 
 world of matter to be changeful and fleeting. The 
 material man is " a walking shadow, a poor player that 
 struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is 
 heard no more." The natural world is the stage, the 
 scenery, the adjuncts to the drama of life — to the 
 comedies and tragedies, the tears and smiles, the villanies 
 and heroisms, the hatreds and the loves of mankind and, 
 when it has served its purpose, it will disappear. 
 
 " The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, 
 The solemn temples, the great globe itself. 
 Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve 
 And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, 
 Leave not a rack behind." 
 
 Yet, fleeting as it is, we are so dependent on the material 
 world and so surrounded by it, that we are very apt to 
 get absorbed by it. The prevailing struggle for mere 
 existence also is apt to form and foster in the mind a 
 strong desire for the material independence and comfort 
 of those near and dear to us. Burns felt this when he said. 
 
THE MISSION GENERALLY CONSIDERED 7 
 
 " To make a happy fireside clime 
 To weans and wife. 
 That's the true pathos and sublime 
 Of human life." 
 
 This ideal is often difficult to attain and there is always 
 a strong temptation to take the shortest cut, rather than 
 the cleanest. To many, success ^changes the making of 
 a happy fireside into the building of a grand one ; and 
 the love that initiated the effort degenerates into selfish 
 ambition. After all, experience, as well as Scripture, 
 tells us : he who puts the material kingdom first shall be 
 last in the spiritual kingdom. Wherever the material 
 ideal dominates, moral deterioration ensues. It is the 
 moral ideal alone that can save us from going down- 
 wards. Though never realised it ever makes us better 
 through the struggle to reach it. The pains and penalties 
 that surround it develop our courage and resolution. 
 Its beauty elevates and inspires us. The pure air of its 
 lofty summit strengthens and braces us. The self- 
 sacrifice it demands becomes our soul's salvation. From 
 it we learn that dignity Ues in serving, not in ruling ; 
 that honour consists in growing better, not in getting 
 grander ; and that happiness comes more from well- 
 doing than through doing well. The material has to be 
 made subservient to the moral and the actual to the ideal; 
 the stones of human life have to be shaped, squared, and 
 built together according to the plan of the Divine Temple, 
 if the structure is to be estabUshed in strength to stand 
 firm for ever. 
 
 (4) The Masonic Ideal. 
 
 The Quest of the Ideal we find in masonry at every 
 turn. The travel from West to East, like the Earth to 
 
8 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 receive the life-giving Light of the Sun ; the working of 
 the rough Ashlar, into the form of the perfect Ashlar ; 
 the mystic Ladder, reaching up to the cloudy Canopy ; 
 the sacred Stair, leading to the mysteries of the middle 
 Chamber ; the lost key-stone, perfecting the secret Arch ; 
 the lost word, that will make a true Master ; the destroyed 
 Temple, that is to be restored ; all symbolise the 
 throbbing, yearning, seeking of the human heart for 
 something better and happier than the actual world 
 around us. But the grand ideal in masonry, to which all 
 the rest are subsidiary and contributory, is that which 
 represents the soul of man as a Holy Temple and dwelling 
 place for The Most High. This ideal has, no doubt, been 
 expressed by poets, prophets, and philosophers, but in 
 masonry only has it been made the basis of an organi- 
 sation, having a system of instruction, as unique in form 
 as it is rare in history. 
 
 (5) The Nature of the Mission. 
 
 Having cleared our ground somewhat, let us now 
 enquire as to the nature of the Mission of Masonry. 
 
 The mission of the gunshot is death and destruction ; 
 of the rocket-line, life and preservation ; of the University, 
 knowledge ; of the Church, salvation ; of Masonry, the 
 building of the Ideal Temple. 
 
 Masonry does not exist to combat any particular evil, 
 to solve any special problem, to advance any peculiar 
 cult, or to propagate any precise dogma in the outer 
 world. It does not claim to possess any patent pill for 
 the evils of humanity nor does it propose to build an 
 Utopian State of political freedom and economic 
 happiness. It is not for social fellowship, although that 
 
THE MISSION GENERALLY CONSIDERED 9 
 
 forms, and in many quarters forms too prominent, a part 
 of it. It is not constituted for the exercise of benevolence 
 only, although that occupies no insignificant place, both 
 in its precepts and its practice. It teaches no science, 
 yet science holds an important position within it. It 
 favours no philosophic school, yet a profound philosophy 
 permeates its system of symboliiBm. It instructs in no 
 special art, yet in it all the arts are honoured. It has no 
 religious creed, yet religion forms its foundation and 
 crowns its pinnacles. It is not the product of any age, nor 
 the work of any nation. It is the evolution and growth 
 of centuries and has received contributions from many 
 diverse races and peoples. Like nature it is many sided : 
 '■ Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale 
 Her infinite variety." 
 
 The mission of masonry being the building of the Ideal 
 Temple, he is the true mason who works true to the plan 
 of that Temple. He has to build himself, and thereby 
 contribute to the building of humanity, as a dwelling 
 place for the Divine Presence. 
 
 How to live is a problem each of us must solve. To 
 live, in its fullest sense, is not to exist like a cabbage or 
 an ox. Physical life as a problem has already been 
 solved for us. The Great Architect has provided every- 
 thing needful for the healthy life of His workmen. 
 Nothing is wanting. We have abundance. But, alas ! 
 its distribution is in our own hands and we waste it in 
 war and strife and riotous living. Hence the awful 
 crime and suffering that abound. What message does 
 masonry give us on this problem ? It gives no economic 
 lesson whatsoever. Economics and politics it refuses to 
 deal with. It says, " Act on the Square with your 
 neighbour and you will soon solve your economic and 
 
10 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 social problems. Want and misery, crime and vice 
 abound, because you do not live as moral beings — you do 
 not live on the Square." 
 
 A building will not endure if it is not built on the 
 Square. A man's life is a ruin if it is not lived on the 
 Square. A community can only be prosperous and happy 
 in proportion as it is governed by the Square. 
 
 Some people spend great energy and time trying to 
 solve the enigmas of sin and suffering by political laws 
 and social measures. They are doubtless earnest in 
 purpose and good in motive; but, if they only look at 
 the physical and social environment, they do not go to 
 the root of the evil. Physical and social evils are the 
 result of moral evils. Yet some men think they can 
 cure these by physical means, by mental gymnastics, by 
 the beating of drums, and fireworks — something 
 sensational. They do not realise that noise means friction 
 and waste of energy. The process of evolution and 
 development in nature, and of perfection in mechanics, 
 is simplicity and silence. A dust-cart makes more noise 
 than the sun and planets in their courses. Why eagerly 
 expend yourself in talk about the why and wherefore of 
 the wounds of humanity, while these are unbound ? The 
 good Samaritan first thinks of bandages and ointment 
 for the wounds and not about the kind of weapons that 
 made them, and then, he thinks of the hearts that used 
 the weapons, not the blind instruments. 
 
 Masonry has no message for the government of the 
 purely physical life, nor for the economic or political 
 conditions of society, or of the individual. It recognises 
 that the moral conditions dominate and form the key 
 of the situation. That which is hurtful to moral life will, 
 in the long run, be deadly to physical and social life. 
 
THE MISSION GENERALLY CONSIDERED 11 
 
 Let your moral life be right and all will be well, and 
 neither the individual nor society will be well until they 
 live on the Square, and work at the building of the Temple. 
 
 But what is living on the Square ? Neither scientific 
 nor philosophic knowledge is needed to make a stone 
 square : no great intellectual capacity nor scholastic 
 lore is required to live a true life.* Certainly, knowledge 
 is power. But the thing needful for the salvation of 
 humanity is not power. It is the right directing of power 
 — the dedication of all knowledge, wealth, and talent to 
 true and noble ends — to the higher plan and purpose of 
 life — to the co-working of the soul, true and square, with 
 the Great Architect of All. 
 
 This is all plain and simple — perhaps too much so. 
 The essentials in human life physically — air, earth, 
 water — are common things. In value, the coffers of the 
 Bank of England are not comparable with that of the 
 passing sunbeam that lovingly flings itself on the good 
 and the bad alike. In importance, the diamonds of the 
 mine are not equal to the raindrops that fall impartially 
 on the just and the unjust. So, morally, the needful thing 
 is the common one. It is the heart alone that can seek and 
 find the truth essential to a good life. The simplicity 
 of the matter is apt to prove a stumbling block to 
 many minds. It is particularly apt to be despised by 
 those accustomed to the intricacies of scientific and 
 philosophic research and hence the ploughman has often 
 the advantage of the philosopher. 
 
 To a certain extent, we are the creatures of circum- 
 stances, yet, in all circumstances we are conscious of 
 the power to choose good and to reject evil. If we accept 
 evil we know we sin. This consciousness of responsibility 
 cannot be explained by any known property of matter. 
 
12 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 There is, therefore, something in us apart from the 
 material — something capable of directing all our 
 knowledge and powers in the work of life. This faculty 
 we call conscience. Like every faculty it is capable of 
 development and in proportion to its development do we 
 morally progress and prosper. Masonry tells us, " use 
 your conscience constantly in the work of life; as the 
 craftsman uses his square. Ask yourself every hour of 
 the day : Am I working true and square ? In every 
 moment of doubt, apply the square and your life will 
 not be far wrong. The conscience is the moral square of 
 humanity. If you would build your Temple you must 
 work true to it. To do otherwise is absolute foUy and 
 waste of life. 
 
 But, apparent confusion is everywhere around us. 
 Goodness bleeds and innocence suffers, while vice and 
 guilt often seem to triumph. Ah ! yes, but Masonry 
 tells us, we are only at present looking at the scaffolding 
 and the debris of the building operations and, therefore, 
 cannot rightly see the Divine Plan of the Great Temple. 
 The very fact that scaffolding exists is a proof that a 
 Temple is to he. Death and suffering are the evidence that 
 life and happiness exist in the plan of the Universe. The 
 shadow demonstrates that light is shining somewhere. 
 For the good of the whole, each particular physical life 
 is of necessity narrowed and hmited. If death did not 
 exist, rats and rabbits would crush humanity to the wall 
 and take all the good things of earth. But, on this very 
 ground, the existence of mind, or soul, must be limitless 
 and immortal. It expands and increases not to the 
 pressure or injury of others, but to their benefit. Every 
 fresh discovery and achievement by one, is a help to all. 
 The ultimate perfection of the soul is the only rational 
 
THE MISSION GENERALLY CONSIDERED 13 
 
 solution of existence ; and that there is a sphere for every 
 faculty, is alone compatible with the idea of an ordered 
 Universe. Of the embryo in the womb we might ask 
 with Dr. Chalmers, " What is the use of these limbs, of 
 these organs of digestion and respiration, of sight and of 
 sound ? " What we call birth — the separation of the child 
 from the mother — would appear to the child, if conscious, 
 as death. So, not until our separation from this mother 
 earth will we realise the use of all the wondrous faculties 
 of our being and begin to understand clearly the Divine 
 Plan that runs through ail. Our possibilities are infinite. 
 There is a Newton in every navvy, a Solomon in every 
 fool, a Saint in every sinner. 
 
 So the building of the Ideal Temple is living true to 
 the Square. If we thus live, we will be firm and secure. 
 The winds may blow, and the waves may dash them- 
 selves against us, but neither the storms of adversity, 
 nor life, nor death itself can move us. Our lives will 
 become consecrated Temples. It matters little what our 
 occupations may be, they will become sacred. In this 
 light, the workshop and the counting-house, the forge 
 and the exchange, will be glorified as part of the Great 
 Plan ; and we ourselves will be, not the toil-ridden slaves 
 of a vast inexorable destiny, but the children of an all- 
 loving. Infinite Father, co-workers with Him at the 
 building of His Great Temple — " an house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the Heavens." 
 
 (6) Is Masonry to-day true to its Mission ? 
 
 Before concluding our general consideration of " The 
 Mission of Masonry," there is a natural and practical 
 question that faces us, viz., " Is Masonry to-day true to 
 its Mission ? " 
 
14 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 To this question there appears but one answer possible 
 and that is a sad " No." Masons are not earnestly 
 striving to work to the Ideal Plan. They glorify 
 their ancient and honourable Order in terms bordering 
 on the bombastic, and sometimes even running into the 
 ridiculous, yet how often are its sjrmbols dishonoured 
 and its ceremonies desecrated ? Is this language rather 
 strong ? Can any terms be too strong in condemnation 
 of that which no doubt many of us have seen and in 
 our own hearts silently condemned ? Let us face this 
 matter fairly and squarely. The causes that at present 
 hinder masonry from carrying out its mission properly 
 are internal. They can be and ought to be removed. 
 
 Why is it that so many sensible and intelligent men 
 after being initiated drop out of the ranks and become 
 lapsed members ? Is it merely the " pure cussedness " 
 of human nature, or selfishness, fickleness, or laziness ? 
 If we look closely into the matter we will find we 
 cannot lay " this flattering unction" to our souls. Is 
 the lodge-work so honestly and intelligently conducted 
 that there is no excuse for the non-attendance of absent 
 members, or for the ignorance of those present ? 
 Masonry to-day has too many members who are not 
 masons, because the work of too many lodges is not 
 masonry. If lodge-work was more faithfuUy and 
 thoughtfully done, if more attention was given to the 
 study of our symbols, and less to mere show and 
 " harmonies," the number of our intrants might be less, 
 but the number of real masons in the world would be 
 greater. Many of our beautiful symbols are scarcely 
 ever heard of in our lodges, and only a few of our members 
 have studied them, and learned the truths they contain. 
 
 One of the causes of this condition of things is the 
 
THE MISSION GENERALLY CONSIDERED 15 
 
 election of men to prominent positions who have little 
 heartfelt interest in, and less capacity for, the work of 
 masonry. Many seek its honours in the same spirit as 
 they seek titles in the outer world. They want the higher 
 position not for the sake of the greater opportunity it 
 may give them of doing good, but as a selfish distinction. 
 When they have gained their ^bject and masonry has 
 served their purpose, they throw it aside as they do an 
 old coat. Such men are not disposed to do much real 
 work. They try to get through the work, not to do it. 
 " What's the use," they say, " in bothering, my term of 
 office wUl soon be over and I am no worse than many 
 others." Thus they excuse themselves from doing their 
 duty and fulfilling their obligations. Of these it may 
 be said — parodying the words of Young : — ■ 
 
 " They let unmarked and unemployed 
 
 Their term of office run, 
 And doing nothing for the Craft, 
 
 Imagine nothing done. 
 Fatal mistake, their fate goes on. 
 
 Their dread account proceeds. 
 And their not doing is set down 
 
 Amongst their darkest deeds." 
 
 The inferior work of a lodge not only fails generally 
 to create a hearty interest in its sjmibolism, it often 
 creates a positive disgust. The manner in which the 
 sublime ceremony of the Master Degree is sometimes 
 conducted makes it absolutely disgusting to men of 
 intelligence and good feeling. These displays should be 
 sternly suppressed by the strong hand of Authority. But 
 this suppression is not all that can, or that ought to be 
 done. There should be educative action as well. It is 
 not sufficient to drive out evil. Reform to be efficient 
 must always substitute the good for the bad. 
 
16 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 A large number of earnest minded members of the 
 Craft attribute many of its evils to indiscriminate 
 admission. In this they are right, for in many quarters the 
 idea seems prevalent that the function of a lodge is that 
 of a press-gang to sweep in initiates and to make records. 
 So long as the fees are paid the entrance is easy. Masters 
 readily forget that they have sworn to see that no one is 
 admitted into the lodge without due enquiry into his 
 character. There is no real scrutiny and the ballot is a 
 farce. In such quarters numbers are confounded with 
 success, quantity with strength, and money with virtue. 
 It is forgotten that there is more energy in a grain of 
 radium than in a mountain of rubbish, and that it is 
 quality that tells in the work of the Universe. You may 
 plus zero ad infinitum but the result will be nil. The 
 addition of vice to vice will never produce virtue. 
 Increase of numbers may mean increased weakness. It 
 has been small nations that have made history. 
 
 To cure this evil of indiscriminate admission, the quack 
 remedy of big fees is recommended. Our masonic Craft 
 is to be sold at so much per yard, or so much per degree. 
 Our salvation is to depend on big fees ! At last, in the 
 history of mankind, the guinea is to evolve the virtues 
 of a god, and the golden calf is to possess all the quali- 
 fications of a good candidate. This cure is worse than 
 the disease. If high fees are needed let them be based 
 on financial reasons. Have as high fees as you like, but, 
 for Heaven's sake, remember that a millionaire may be 
 a blackguard, and that saints, for the most part, have 
 been practically paupers. 
 
 What then is the remedy ? That effectually lies in the 
 ballot box. Make it a reality and not a farce. Let every 
 ball represent clear conviction and due enquiry. But 
 
THE MISSION GENERALLY CONSIDERED 17 
 
 the great mass of members will not take this trouble. 
 They look more to the pounds, shillings and pence 
 prosperity of their lodge than to the welfare and real good 
 of our Order. This narrow and selfish view has become 
 so common that the real function of a lodge has been 
 lost sight of. It no longer exists for the building of the 
 Temple, but for its own little* glorification and petty 
 pride. What then should be done ? There may be 
 something better, but one thing might do good. Limit 
 the number of initiates. Do not let any lodge admit 
 more than a maximum in a year. Perhaps greater care 
 in the selection and in the instruction of intrants 
 would be the result of such a rule. 
 
 Not many years ago St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh 
 was a sight to make the angels weep. That grand 
 structure had been for years in the hands of men who had 
 no appreciation of its beauty and grandeur and who, to 
 suit their own narrow and coarse conceptions, partitioned 
 and divided and covered it over with hideous lath and 
 plaster. But the traditions of its beauty remained, and 
 stimulated the study and observation of some lovers of 
 the beautiful. The spring of an arch here and there, the 
 glimpse of a pillar, the appearance of a bit of carved 
 work, gave hints of the grand work beneath the ugly 
 covering. By study, and not without some difficulty and 
 even opposition, the original plan and lines of the building 
 were traced and this fine Cathedral was restored to bless 
 the eyes and minds of men with its symmetry and beauty. 
 As St. Giles was, so masonry now is. Dare we hope as 
 St. Giles is, so masonry will be, cleaned of all the rubbish 
 and lath and plaster shams that at present disfigure and 
 conceal its proportions and design, so that at last it 
 may appear in its real beauty, to bless the hearts of men, 
 c 
 
18 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS MISSION 
 
 and draw unto itself all who love the beautiful and true. 
 At present it is in a transition state. It has still to 
 develop its true form. Gradually, and to many of us 
 all too slowly, it is evolving into an institution that will 
 ultimately, we believe, become a powerful factor for the 
 peace and progress of Humanity. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE LAW OF THE»SQUARE. 
 
 Experience has taught us that our work must conform 
 to the great dominant forces that surround it, if it is to 
 €xist. Our own existence and the permanence of our 
 actions depend on obedience to Law. We must work 
 with those mighty forces or they will destroy us. We 
 find in masonry, or building, that the great dominant law 
 is the Law of the Square, and we propose considering this 
 law as follows, viz. : — 
 
 (1) The Law of the Square in Nature. 
 
 (2) The Law of the Square in Material Building. 
 
 (3) The Law of the Square in Moral Building. 
 
 (4) The Law of the Square in the Point within the 
 
 Circle. 
 ^5) The Law of the Square in the Cross. 
 
 (1) The Law of the Square in Nature. 
 
 There are two great forces operating on and through 
 «very atom of matter in our globe — the centrifugal force 
 of the earth's motion and the centripetal force of gravi- 
 tation. The one flies from, and the other flows to, the 
 centre of the earth. To get some idea of the centrifugal 
 force of the earth's motion let us look at the fly-wheel 
 of a steam engine at work. We wonder how it holds 
 
20 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 together. Its velocity is marvellous and quite beyond 
 the power of our sight to foUow. Although of hard iron 
 it presents a kind of shadowy india-rubber-like outline^ 
 as it speeds on at its terrific rate. Now, the maximum 
 speed of the fly-wheel of an ordinary steam engine runs, 
 about 30,000 feet per minute, 340 miles an hour, or six 
 times the speed of an express railway train. But the 
 earth spins on its axis at the rate of 91,666 feet per 
 minute or 1,041| miles an hour, and circles round the 
 sun at the rate of 66,000 miles an hour. Think of it ! 
 Why, we are dreaming about electric railway trains, 
 flying at one hundred miles an hour, and the present 
 generation scarcely expects to see that rate accomplished. 
 Yet the earth flies at sixty-six thousand miles an hour 
 and we are unaware of it until science demonstrates 
 the fact. Now, according to the law known as Newton's, 
 first law of motion, " any body moving with a given 
 velocity in a given direction wiU continue so to move^ 
 unless acted upon by some external force." The earth,, 
 all in it and on it, therefore, would fly asunder by reason 
 of its own velocity were there no counter-acting force,, 
 or if the counter-acting force was not equal to the 
 centrifugal force of the motion. The idea of the earth 
 flying asunder and every molecule of it, and belonging ta 
 it, hurled out into space, seems almost inconceivable ; 
 yet science and reason and experience tell us that this, 
 would inevitably happen were there no opposing force. 
 The restraining influence that prevents such a 
 catastrophe is the power known by the name of 
 gravitation, whose line of action is centripetal and there- 
 fore opposed to the centrifugal force of the earth's motion. 
 But, if the power of gravitation preserves us from 
 flying into space, the force of the earth's motion on the 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 
 
 21 
 
 other hand, prevents us from as great a catastrophe. If 
 the latter was not balanced by the former this globe of 
 ours would be squeezed into a dense minute ball, to a 
 degree of hardness of which we have neither experience nor 
 conception, and on which life and movement, as we know 
 them, would be an impossibility. These two mighty forces 
 work at a right angle (see Diagrafti I.). They meet " on 
 the centre and work on the square," and the result is the 
 perfect poise and balance of forces, the orderly progression 
 of the earth, the alternation of night and day, and the 
 
 Diagram I. 
 
 succession of the seasons. These all-prevailing and all- 
 pervading forces cause man, and aU the varied forces of 
 nature, to work on the Square. The life energy, building 
 cell by cell through all the multifarious forms of the 
 vegetable and animal kingdoms ; the dewdrop, gathering 
 on the petals of the daisy ; the rain, condensing in the 
 thunder cloud ; the stream, leaping down the mountain 
 side ; the broad river, bearing navies on its breast ; the 
 ocean, ebbing and flowing, in storm or in calm ; the very 
 lightning flashing from the vault of heaven, and, we have 
 every reason to believe, the mighty worlds, rolling through 
 
22 
 
 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 infinite space ; all move and work under the dominion 
 of the Law of the Square. 
 
 It is in consequence of the perfect poise we have been 
 referring to, that we are able to work through nature. 
 In mechanics we liberate and direct terrific power with 
 the touch of a finger. There are innumerable levers in 
 the world around us which we have not yet discovered. 
 They are silently waiting for us. Their quietness is the 
 result of perfect poise, and their perfect poise is the result 
 of forces working on the square. Material, tons in weight. 
 
 r 
 
 6 
 
 Diagram II. 
 
 may be so balanced that the touch of a child's finger will 
 give direction to it. The light stroke of a cork hammer on 
 a suspended ponderous bar of iron wiU cause it to vibrate 
 from end to end and to emit a low deep sound. A weighing 
 machine when in perfect poise is on the square, so is the 
 natural balance of the material creation (see Diagram II.). 
 The sailor squares his sails and his helm to the wind, and 
 a ship in full sail is a mass of right angles. The engineer 
 constructs his piston and crank shaft at right angles and 
 squares his line of motion to his line of resistance. The 
 weaver throws his shuttle at right angles to his warp and 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 23 
 
 every fabric is formed of threads on the square. The 
 aviator sets his planes at right angles to his line of flight 
 and flies on the square. 
 
 Through all the Great Temple of the Universe, the 
 Grand Architect and Master-Builder works on the square, 
 and hence we must co-operate with Him and build on the 
 square, if our work is to be firm ^d enduring. 
 
 (2) The Law of the Square in Material Building. 
 
 In Operative Masonry a building is constructed of 
 material so placed and balanced that the pull of the great 
 central forces is equal on all sides. It must conform to a 
 line rising upwards on the plumb and to a line extending 
 on a level. Its stability depends on its equiUbrium and 
 that is practically attained by what is called building on 
 the Square, which means true to the level-line that 
 represents the centrifugal force of the earth's motion 
 and true to the plumb-line that represents the centripetal 
 force of gravitation. 
 
 Man's earliest efforts in building were probably of a 
 pyramid form. The walls and roof were in one line, and 
 even after the introduction of upright walls, they appear 
 to have been tapered from base to top. Gradually, no 
 doubt in the course of centuries of experience and through 
 the lessons of repeated failures, he acquired a working 
 knowledge of the Law of the Square in building. But 
 it seems that it was only when he properly mastered the 
 problem of forming a right angle that the day of 
 civilisation really dawned. This was the chief comer- 
 stone in his evolution. Progress, seemingly, would have 
 been impossible without it. Art and science alike owe 
 almost everything to it. The invention of the instrument 
 
24 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS MISSION 
 
 known as the square followed naturally this great dis- 
 covery, for it is the practical embodiment of the right 
 angle. 
 
 Man cannot work without tools. The necessity for 
 these has stimulated his powers of invention, and his 
 invention of them has enabled him, everywhere in the 
 material creation, to conquer and establish his 
 supremacy. By them and through them he has also 
 developed his higher nature and extended his mental and 
 spiritual horizon. In the long course of history his efforts 
 in the construction of engines and tools have resulted 
 even more to the expansion of his mind than to his 
 material benefit. It is said that in the construction of 
 the telescope he has received more education than 
 in all the great discoveries he has made with it. The 
 foundation of all his achievements, however, lies in 
 the discovery of the Square. Without this his work 
 would have been limited to a narrow field and his 
 constructive power restricted to childish proportions. 
 His civiUsation would, probably, never have got beyond 
 the bounds of that of the African, and his greatest 
 building would likely have been equal to the wigwam of 
 the American Indian. Hence the importance attached 
 to this instrument and the reason why masons, specu- 
 lative and operative, call it the great symbol of their 
 Craft. But, however important it may be, it should not 
 be forgotten that after all it is nothing more than an 
 instrument. It has no power nor virtue in itself. 
 Operatively, it derives its importance from being adjusted 
 to the great central forces that dominate in the material 
 world. Speculatively, it obtains its significance, because 
 it represents the great faculty of Conscience that governs 
 in the moral world. 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 25 
 
 (3) The Law of the Square in Moral Building. 
 
 In human nature, individually and socially, there are 
 two great Forces constantly operating, analogous to 
 those physical central forces we have been considering. 
 The one is centrifugal and the other centripetcil in 
 character. The first is the passion for liberty, the rebellion 
 against restraint, the refusal of the divine within man to 
 become mere passive material in the mould of a cast-iron 
 destiny ; the desire of the soul to shape its own path and 
 live its own life, the consciousness of individuality — of 
 self. The other is the seeking of the human heart for 
 association and S5niipathy with its fellows, the natural 
 love of " kith and kin," the mystic affinity of kindred 
 souls and, above all, the seeking to the great centre — the 
 Father of our being. When these two great forces in 
 human affairs act on the right angle of the square the 
 result is progress, peace, and happiness. But, if the first 
 is allowed to predominate, the passion for liberty makes 
 for disobedience, the eating of the fruit of the tree of 
 knowledge, the setting up of self as the centre of a little 
 molecule of a world that wanders like a prodigal through 
 weary, dreary, space — and which wUl never find rest 
 until it seeks and returns to the bosom of the Great 
 Centre. If the second force predominates, sympathy and 
 love degenerate into weakness and stagnation, — the 
 individual becomes like a cork on the wave or a straw 
 in the wind. The power of spontaneous action, freedom 
 of opinion and freedom of conscience, become impossible. 
 The soul loses its individuality. It cannot benefit from 
 experience and comes at last to live in a prison-house 
 crushed, coffined, and confined, and unfit for the service 
 of God or Man. 
 
26 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS MISSION 
 
 The passion for liberty, arising from the consciousness 
 of individuahty and responsibihty, is the working of 
 spiritual heredity. Man's very ability to sin is the proof 
 of his divine origin. Yet it is only when this individuahty 
 is held in proper check, by love to his fellows and to his 
 Divine Father, that he can be redeemed from the chaos, 
 of sin and selfishness and have a place in the cosmos of 
 righteousness. It is only when the great centrifugal 
 force of individuality, of self, and the great centripetal 
 force of love and sympathy are squared to a true balance 
 in human life that happiness and progress are possible, 
 and, just as with those great natural forces we have been 
 referring to, the moral forces in human life — Self and 
 Love — wiU only work on the square when they meet and 
 unite in the Great Centre of All. 
 
 In Speculative Masonry, as in Operative, there are 
 two lines— a plumb-hne and a level-line — to which we 
 must work. The one is the Heaven-line of duty to the 
 Divine, and the other is the Earth-line of duty to the 
 Human. Toward our fellow-men we act on the Level, 
 and the golden rule of the level-line of duty is, to do 
 to others as we would that others should do to us. 
 This has been the wisdom of the sage from the remotest 
 time, and we know by experience that it is as true morally 
 as the Law of Gravitation is physically. If we act 
 unjustly to our neighbour, we wrong ourselves. If we 
 wrong ourselves, we are not true to our neighbour ; and 
 we cannot wrong our neighbour nor ourselves without 
 being untrue to our Creator. Equipoise in the moral 
 world is as inexorable a law of stability as in the 
 physical. Perfect poise is the result, and silence is the 
 evidence of forces working on the square. Noise 
 proclaims something wrong, something off the square. 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 27 
 
 and indicates waste of energy. In human society the 
 same principle holds good. Strife, noise and war, waste, 
 want and misery, represent the unsquare conditions. 
 Unity, concord and peace, economy, plenty and happiness- 
 characterise the square conditions. The individual, 
 also, whose life is built on the square, has that spiritual 
 poise called " the peace of Goc^" — the perfect moral 
 stability of the soul that lives in harmony with the Great 
 Centre of All. 
 
 The instrument called the Square, in operative building, 
 has its counterpart, in moral building, in the faculty 
 called the Conscience. As the Square is applied by the 
 operative to his work, so are we to apply our Conscience 
 to our work of life-building. It is true, theoretically, 
 neither Square nor Conscience is perfect. But they are 
 the best, and the only test we have, and are, in their 
 respective spheres, indispensable to true building. Each 
 represents a great invisible power to which they have 
 been primarily adjusted, — the one to the centre of the 
 material earth, the other to the moral centre of the 
 universe. They are both subject to deterioration and 
 damage, and ought, therefore, to be preserved, with the 
 utmost care, from all strain and violence, so that they 
 may be true and reliable guides. 
 
 From these considerations we arrive at the following 
 conclusions : — 
 
 (a) That Operative building on the Square is working 
 true to the centre of Gravity. 
 
 (6) That the instrument called the Square has been 
 constructed to guide the Operative in so working. 
 
 (c) That the Square is the visible representation of a 
 great invisible law, or power, dominating all 
 matter. 
 
28 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 (<^)^That moral building on the Square is living true 
 to the great Divine Centre. 
 
 (e) That the faculty called Conscience will guide us 
 
 in so living, just as the Square guides the work 
 of the Operative. 
 
 (f) That the Conscience is the representative within us 
 
 of the Divine Spirit as the Square is the 
 representative of the Law of Gravitation, and 
 if we live true to it, we will build our lives 
 square with the Creator and Father of our being, 
 the Divine Centre of All. 
 
 (4) The Law of the Square in the Point within 
 the Circle. 
 
 On certain occasions we hear of the finding of certain 
 secrets " on the Centre," and the Centre is explained 
 to be " That point within a circle from which every part 
 of the circumference is equi-distant." It is also stated 
 that the Centre " is a point from which a master-mason 
 cannot err." The language used on such occasions is 
 obscure. As in many things in our ancient institution 
 we have here preserved a broken husk and lost the 
 kernel. Repeating words by rote, without attending to 
 their meaning, has had the sure result of confusing the 
 words and destroying the sense. It is the truth, recognised 
 within any form, that preserves the correct form. The 
 moment the true spirit and meaning is lost, confusion of 
 the word begins. Now, the phrases referred to have, no 
 doubt, puzzled us all, more or less, at times. Can we get 
 a key to their meaning ? Notwithstanding their 
 vagueness they have an apparent reference to the 
 symbol known as " The Point within the Circle " (see 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 
 
 2» 
 
 Diagram III.). Let us see if this symbol can give us 
 some light and reveal the meaning of the peculiar phrases- 
 we have just mentioned. 
 
 Not long ago, it was uncommon to find a craftsman 
 capable of proving his square. Even in Scotland, where- 
 education was more general than elsewhere, this was 
 so. The method of proving seeme to have been one of 
 those trade secrets jealously guarded, not only from the 
 outer world but, also, from the members of the Craft 
 belonging to an inferior grade. It was the natural duty" 
 
 Diagram III. 
 
 of the master to prove the square of the craftsman and 
 it was important that, in so doing, he should not err. If 
 the square was wrong, the work could not be right, and 
 an error might cause ruin to the building and loss of life 
 to the workman. The following seems to have been the- 
 method usually practised by operatives in proving a 
 square. Take a drawing-board, or a sheet of paper, mark 
 a point as a centre and from it describe a circle. Draw a- 
 straight line through the centre and intersect the circimi- 
 ference at A and B. It does not matter whether the line 
 is horizontal or otherwise, so long as it is straight and goes- 
 
30 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 through the central point (see Diagram IV.) . Now, mark 
 any point of the circumference you please, say C, and draw 
 the lines C A and C B, and you will have a right or square 
 angle. There are other ways of obtaining this result — ^no 
 doubt known to you all — but, for simplicity and ease, this 
 method is well suited for the operative mason and seems 
 to have been that in general use in England and Scotland. 
 But, neither in this nor in any other way, can a right 
 angle be formed, without relying on a centre. If the square 
 was destroyed, or the right angle lost, the master-mason 
 
 Diagram IV. 
 
 could find it, or renew it only, by working on the centre. 
 On this depended the resurrection and regeneration of 
 that which was lost. Without the central point the right 
 angle cannot be found, the secret of the square is lost, 
 and the work of the Temple is at a standstill. 
 
 The conclusion seems irresistible that the language 
 referred to has an implied reference to the symbol of 
 " The Point within the Circle," and that it affords us the 
 only reasonable interpretation of the obscure and occult 
 phrases we have been considering. That the words have 
 become corrupt and the original meaning lost is self- 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 31 
 
 evident, and this symbol seems to be the only guide in 
 the field to a natural explanation of them. Taking it as 
 a guide, the answer to the question of why the lost secrets 
 should be found on a centre, viz. : — " Because that is a 
 point from which no M.M. can err," — should probably be 
 "because, relying on that point, no M.M. can err from 
 the square." * 
 
 But, here arises the natural question — what connection 
 is there between the Hiramic legend and the point within 
 the Circle? It is stated that "the genuine secrets were 
 lost by the untimely death of our Master, etc.," and that 
 these were to be found "on the Centre." This brings us 
 to a brief examination of the history, so far as is known, 
 of the M.M. degree. Prior to the 1717 evolution there is 
 not the smallest trace of a M.M. ceremony and degree, in 
 the present day sense of those terms. But, while accepting 
 this as absolutely true, we are not thereby bound to 
 accept the theory of the introduction of a brand-new 
 degree. It is surely neither fair nor scientific to conclude 
 that, because Desaguliers and Anderson constructed the 
 degree, they also manufactured the material of it. The 
 opinion of such an excellent authority as Br. R. F. 
 Gould is worthy of being noted. He says in his history 
 of Freemasonry : " Whatever difficulties may appear 
 to exist in tracing the Hiramic Legend in the Companion- 
 age to an earlier date than 1717, the inference that it can 
 be so carried back, problematical as it may be, affords, 
 perhaps, the only — and certainly the best — justification 
 for the belief that, in Freemasonry, the Legend of Hiram 
 the builder ante-dates the era of Grand Lodges." Hiram 
 is not mentioned by name in a number of the old MSS., 
 but he is alluded to in several of these as Solomon's 
 " Master-Mason " and " Chief Master of his Masonrie and 
 
32 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS MISSION 
 
 of all his Graving, Carving and all other Masonrie that 
 belonged to the Temple." In the Inigo Jones MS. 
 (date 1607) he is mentioned by name as " Hiram Abif." 
 In the Companionage of France there are traditionary- 
 legends very similar to those connected with the Master- 
 degree of the Masonic Order. The former, as an organised 
 society, was in existence in the fourteenth century and still 
 exists ; and there is no trace, nor proof, of any interchange 
 of legendary lore between the two organisations. Every 
 indication we have of both, from the earliest records on 
 to the eighteenth century, point to the contrary. There 
 appears, therefore, only one inference in these circum- 
 stances, viz. : — that the legend common to both has been 
 transmitted by a prehistoric predecessor and, perhaps, a 
 common ancestor. 
 
 That the M.M. degree and ceremony, in anything like 
 its present form, did not exist prior to the beginning of 
 the eighteenth century, we may safely accept as an 
 historical fact. But the material of which it is formed 
 may have been, and probably was, floating in the old 
 craft lodges in a nebulous traditionary form. This is 
 the only view that appears consistent with the recep- 
 tion accorded to it in England and particularly in 
 Scotland. It is scarcely hkely that the old English 
 lodges would have accepted it had it been a pure in- 
 vention, and had it not harmonised with pre-existing 
 ideas, familiar to the minds of the members, although, 
 probably, not in the same form. In Scotland, especially, 
 one cannot reconcile its reception on any other ground. 
 The Scottish mind is ever jealous of its rights and ready 
 to resent any attempt to impose on it foreign ideas. Had 
 this degree and ceremony been altogether an invention 
 it would have had as little chance of being accepted in 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 33 
 
 Scotland in the beginning of the eighteenth, as the 
 Church liturgy of King Charles had in the beginning of 
 the seventeenth centmy. The events connected with 
 the Covenanters in Scotland were too recent, and of too 
 painful a character, to allow anything coming from 
 London to pass without close scrutiny. Hence there 
 is an irresistible inference tha* the third degree, as 
 constructed immediately after the formation of the Grcind 
 Lodge of England in 1717, was composed of ideas and 
 traditions familiar to the masons of that period. 
 
 Coming back to the finding of certain secrets "on the 
 Centre," and the mingling of the Hiramic Legend with 
 the symbol of the Point within the Circle, it appears 
 probable that since the ceremony was first formulated 
 a number of alterations have occurred, as shown by 
 the varied versions now current. As it stands, we 
 can scarcely imagine any one purposely constructing 
 it. In these circumstances we are forced to the 
 conclusion that it was originally different and pre- 
 sented some coherent and intelligible idea. What 
 was that ? The secret lost through the death of the 
 Master is to be found " on the Centie." The square by 
 which the work of building can be carried on has been 
 lost but it, also, is to be found " on the Centre." Death 
 and Immortality, or Regeneration, are linked together. 
 Just as the operative renews the square by ireljdng on 
 the central point, so is the regeneration of the soul to be 
 found by faith on the Divine Centre. The secret is lost, 
 not destroyed. It can be foimd. The universe is built 
 on mathematical lines. As Plato puts it, "God is always 
 geometrising." The master-secret of true building, 
 physically and morally, is only to be found on the Centre, 
 and the symbol of " the Point within the Circle " contains 
 
 D 
 
34 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 the secret by which we may find that right angle to 
 which all our building must conform, if it is to be upheld 
 by the infinite central forces in the material and in the 
 moral world. 
 
 The ancient method of confirming a covenant suggests 
 a relation to the Point within the Circle. We are told 
 a heifer or calf was killed and severed in two. One 
 half was placed on the north side and the other on the 
 south side of a circle, and the bowels were burned to 
 ashes in the centre. The contracting parties moving 
 within the Circle took up the ashes and scattered them 
 to the four quarters of the earth, exclaiming, " So be it 
 done unto me if I fulfil not my vow." The word 
 " Covenant " in Hebrew is said to mean " to cut or 
 dissect." The Latin " Fcedus " has the same origin, 
 according to the etymology given by Servius (a 
 Fcedus vulneribus sacrificii).* Here we have a 
 singular combination and correspondence in the Hiramic 
 Legend, the Point within the Circle, and certain points 
 which will be readily apprehended by M.Ms. The 
 " Opening " on the Centre, the placing of the Compasses 
 with both points above the square, and one of the 
 principal proving actions of a M.M., with the general 
 nature of the M. ceremonies ; all present remarkable 
 similarities to the Point within the Circle and the ideas 
 associated with it. 
 
 Returning to a more direct consideration of the Law 
 of the Square and the symbolic lessons of the Point 
 within the Circle, let us view the symbol in the manner 
 common to masonic S5nnbols — in its operative and 
 speculative aspects. Take the circle as representing the 
 
 * Biblical Antiquitiei by John Jahn, D.D., translated by Professor Upham. 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 35 
 
 earth, and the point the centre of gravity. Everything 
 on the earth conforms to the great and probably 
 inexplicable force called the Law of Gravity — that 
 pervades and holds the globe and all that it contains, to 
 a common centre. The Architect when designing, eind 
 the operative when building, must work according to it, 
 or their work will come to nou^t. The Circle depends 
 on the Centre, physically, as weU as mathematically. 
 The lines of thousands of plummets spread over the globe 
 all converge to a point (see Diagram V.), and all things 
 
 Diagram V. 
 
 in it and on it are united together and fixed to this 
 central point. The operative mason works to the 
 plumb-line and the level-line and hence his buildings rise 
 true and stand true to the square. They are firm and 
 stable because, being square, they are true to the earth's 
 centre. Hence the operative master mason if in working 
 he relies on the centre, that is the centre of gravity, 
 cannot err from the square ; and this is, perhaps, the 
 reason for the phrase, in the ceremony referred to, that 
 the centre is a point " from which no master mason can 
 err." If he errs from that centre his work will be neither 
 
36 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 plumb nor level, and will therefore be unsquare, in which 
 case he is not a Master of his Craft. He errs from the 
 square, because he relies not on the centre. 
 
 In the moral world there is only one centre that can 
 bind Humanity together, and that is the Divine Centre. 
 There is only one power that can unite men as brethren, 
 and that is love and reverence for the Great Father of 
 All. How can a Brotherhood exist without a Fatherhood? 
 In the square, the plumb-line is the Fatherhood of God, 
 and the level-line is the Brotherhood of man. The sum 
 of the Commandments is, " Love the Lord thy God with 
 all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind ; 
 and thy neighbour as thyself." This is the Law of the 
 square. It is this central truth, — this Faith in a great 
 Divine Centre — that binds together everything in the 
 moral world, and gives to it plan, order, and purpose. 
 Without it, all is chaos and darkness. There is no other 
 bond possible, there is none other desirable. We may as 
 soon expect to see a material building stand inde- 
 pendent of the Law of Gravitation, as to find a true 
 Brotherhood that acknowledges not the Fatherhood 
 of God. The building that has not its bond of union in 
 the centre of the earth cannot stand. The Brotherhood 
 that has not its union in the heart of God cannot last. 
 
 We find further from this symbol that Toleration is in 
 strict accordance with the Law of the Square. No two 
 buildings are, or can be, built on parallel lines, and no two 
 individuals are, or can be, looking at things from the 
 same standpoint. Buildings, although each true to the 
 centre of gravity, are not parallel to each other (see 
 Diagram VI.). They may be all equally plumb but they 
 cannot be equi-distant at copestone and foundation. 
 They diverge from each other. So we may all grow 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 37 
 
 upward on different lines of thought and yet be equally 
 true to the same great Truth. Our views and our creeds 
 may not run on parallel lines and yet our hearts may be 
 all true to the one Great Centre. Parallel views and 
 beliefs are as impossible in the moral world, as parallel 
 lines of buildings are in the physical. The standpoint 
 from which we view things is oif the circle and not on 
 the centre. We look along separate lines of thought and 
 see only oxu: own line and angle of the truth. We cannot 
 see the whole truth of anything. Wherefore then, should 
 
 Diagram VI. 
 
 we quarrel and bear ill-will to each other because our 
 views are different ? Our standpoints are the result 
 of birth and environment more than of free choice, and 
 our views are different because we have different stand- 
 points. The influences of heredity, environment, 
 education, society, friendship, love, and those inspirations 
 and aspirations that come through the mysterious veil 
 that hides the beyond from our ken, all shape and mould 
 our souls and place us at different points of view. At 
 present it is not meant that our views should be the 
 same. Are not brotherly toleration and charity more 
 
38 
 
 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 valuable than uniformity and conformity of belief and 
 doctrine ? Our differences will grow the less as we 
 approach the Great Centre, and the more we recede from 
 that point the more divergent will our views become, 
 and the greater will our differences be. 
 
 But while our views are necessarily limited and partial, 
 being from the circle, there is in the centre an All-Seeing 
 Eye that looks along all the hnes of thought and before 
 which the Universe lies open as a page (see Diagram VII.). 
 Knowledge is power. To know, or see clearly, the laws 
 
 Diagram VII, 
 
 that dominate is to have the power to operate through 
 them. Thus, Omniscience — the All-seeing — is, also. 
 Omnipotence — the All-mighty. We can only know in 
 part and must believe in part. Hence Faith, through 
 the very limitations and conditions of our knowledge, 
 becomes the great factor that enables us to move onward 
 to the eternal Centre of all Light and Truth. Let us, 
 therefore, accept our differences as inevitable to our 
 imperfect vision, and, in the spirit of that broad toleration 
 and charity, so beautifully taught us in the symbolism 
 of our Craft, let us work onward to the Centre, where all 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 39 
 
 our different views will unite and blend together into 
 one glorious vision of the Truth. 
 
 (5) The Law of the Square in the Cross. 
 
 Masons, generally, do not associate the Square with 
 the Cross ; yet essentially they are the same. The 
 cross is composed of right angles, or squares. It is found 
 on rocks chiselled in the prehistoric ages and in graves, 
 carved on rude pottery, buried with bodies whose very 
 bones in the course of thousands of years have crumbled 
 into dust, and on the top of which lie the ruins of periods 
 and of peoples of whom History has not the faintest 
 trace. It is found thus, not in an isolated spot, but in 
 regions scattered far apart. It is the most universal of 
 all symbols. In the Hindu Temples, in the Egyptian 
 Pyramids, in the ruined altars of America, and in the 
 churches of Christendom, ancient and modem alike, it 
 occupies a conspicuous position. In the Encyclopedia 
 Britannica a writer says : " Numerous instances, dating 
 from the later stone age to Christian times, have been 
 found in nearly every part of Europe. The use of the 
 cross, as a religious sjnnbol, in pre-Christian times and 
 among non-Christian peoples may probably be regarded 
 as almost universal, and in very many cases it was 
 connected with some form of nature worship." In the 
 annual of the British School at Athens, No. IX., 1903-4, 
 there is a report of certain excavations at Knossos, and of 
 discoveries made regarding the worship of Pelasgian 
 Greece. Diagram VIII. is a copy of the conjectural 
 arrangement of a shrine of Snake-Goddess, shown in 
 that publication and formed of objects found in the 
 excavations. In this shrine the central cult-object is a 
 
40 
 
 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 marble cross. The date given is between 4000 and 
 2000 B.C. 
 
 In the ancient Egyptian city of On, according to 
 Ritter (Erdkunde i. 823) as quoted by Kitto (Biblical 
 Encyc. vol. iii., p. 364) " the sole remaining obelisk is 
 from sixty to seventy feet high of a block of red granite, 
 bearing hieroglyphics which remind the beholder of what 
 
 Diagram VIII. 
 
 Strabo terms the Etruscan style. The figure of the Cross 
 which it bears (Crux Ansata, see Diagram X.) has 
 attracted the special notice of Christian antiquaries." 
 
 The cross shown in Diagram IX., with a circle round 
 it, and which for reference I name the Palaeolithic, is 
 associated with the earliest known relics of humanity, 
 with the most ancient carvings and records of India, and 
 with coins and medals belonging to a pre-Christian age 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 
 
 41 
 
 in France and elsewhere. That shown in Diagram X. 
 is known as the Tau. This form was famihar to the 
 Egyptians and Greeks, and was to them the symbol of 
 Regeneration or Immortality. The most common form 
 now in use in Europe, is that known as the Latin Cross, 
 in Diagram XI. There are also the St. Andrew's, 
 Diagram XII. ; the Celtic, Diagrann XIII. ; and the Greek 
 form, Diagram XIV. ; with other variations ; and, 
 further, there is the Svastika, Diagram XV. This last 
 named has a wide range of distribution and is found on 
 
 Diagram IX. 
 
 all kinds of objects. Ten centuries before Christ it was 
 a religious symbol in India and China. A fine sepulchral 
 um, found in Shropham, Norfolk, and which is now in 
 the British Museum, shows three bands of cruciform 
 ornaments round it. The two at the top consists of 
 circles with a cross within, and the lowest band is formed 
 of squares and in each square is a Svastika*. 
 
 In all kinds the cross is formed of right angles, and the 
 circle is implied where not shown. In the Latin and 
 
 * Encyclopediai Britannicn. 
 
42 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 Greek forms generally the circle 'has disappeared, but it 
 is still found at times, particularly in paintings, where it 
 
 Diagram X, 
 
 is shown as a halo of light behind the cross. As the 
 craftsman in making the cross has first to form the 
 circle and from its centre work out the limbs, the circle 
 
 Diagram XI. 
 
 must always be assumed to be present, even where it 
 does not appear. The oldest form always has the circle. 
 In the Egyptian form, the circle is placed on the top, and 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 
 
 43 
 
 the vertical limb is lengthened, evidently to form a 
 handle. To the Egyptians this circle symbolised the 
 
 Diagram XII. 
 
 Diagram XIII. 
 
 generative, or productive power, in nature. It is the 
 transverse section of the egg, which was also used 
 sometimes in its upright shape, in the form of a loop 
 
 Diagram XIV. 
 
 or oval. We find the Hindus representing the same 
 idea, also by a loop, but in every case the circle, or 
 loop, is associated with a cross. The basis of Gothic 
 
44 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS MISSION 
 
 architecture is the cross, the triangle and the loop, all of 
 which are inter-related (see Diagrams XVI. and XVII.). 
 The cross and triangle form the base of the plan, and 
 the loop forms the plan for the windows, doors, and 
 sometimes the roof. 
 
 Laying aside details not helpful to our present purpose, 
 let us turn our attention to the general ideas connected 
 with this symbol. The ancients of Asia, Africa and 
 Europe considered the circle as the symbol of the Divine 
 One circumscribing Himself, so as to become manifested 
 
 Diagram XV, 
 
 to US. The limitations of human nature demand this 
 restriction, for, otherwise, we could have no knowledge 
 of Him. Without the limiting circle we gaze on boundless 
 space, incomprehensible and void of any idea to our 
 minds. We must have form before we can have ideas. 
 The blank page of a book conveys nothing. Draw on it 
 a flower, or an animal, and an idea is presented to the 
 mind. Thus, the Divine One circumscribed Himself in 
 His Creation and for our sakes clothed Himself in a 
 garment of matter, so that He might be manifested to us. 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 
 
 45 
 
 The material universe is everywhere a circumscribing 
 of the Infinite and the cross symbolises the Divine 
 manifestations of Power, Light, Life, and Love. 
 The first Divine manifestation symbolised by the cross 
 
 • 
 
 Diagram XVI. 
 
 Diagram XVII. 
 
 is that of Power. The two lines of the cross, intersecting 
 at right angles in the centre and extending to the utmost 
 limits of the circle, represent the two great central forces, 
 which dominate all matter and which we have already 
 considered in the Law of the Square in Nature. If we 
 
46 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 work with these forces, the Divine Power in them will 
 manifest itself by working with us. If we work against 
 them, it will manifest itself by destroying our work. 
 They work on the square, as shown in the symbol, and 
 we must therefore work on the square if we are to 
 have the Divine Power with us. > ' ?- 1 J'^;^!^ 
 
 The second Divine manifestation symbolised by the 
 cross is that of Light. Darkness is infinite and expresses 
 nothing. Light is circumscribed that it may be mani- 
 fested. It comes out of darkness and is lost in darkness. 
 The energy from the sun comes to our earth through the 
 boundless ether : cold, silent, and in darkness. Did it 
 come in the form of direct Light the whole heavens would 
 be a blaze and we would see nothing else. Not until it 
 impinges on our atmosphere does it burst into light. In 
 the same way, electricity is unseen in the wire until it 
 meets with the resisting carbon. Coal-gas, the common 
 candle, and the lamp, are all enveloped in darkness until 
 they manifest their light in almost essentially similar, 
 although apparently, different conditions. In aU these 
 varied conditions, however, light manifests itself on the 
 square. The energy from the sun strikes our atmosphere 
 at right angles and buists into light. A rope, stretched 
 out with one end fastened and the other end shaken by 
 the hand, appears to have waves running from end to 
 end. In reality it is moving up and down, at right angles 
 to the line of progress. Science tells us it is in this way 
 light moves. It works on the square, and the circle 
 with the square, or cross, is a fitting symbol of the 
 manifestation of material light. 
 
 But this symbol is particularly representative of moral 
 light. That only can be light morally that is true and 
 square. Beliefs and doctrines that do not accord with 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 47 
 
 the right angle of our conscientious convictions, can never 
 give light. Truth itself can never be truth to us, until 
 we are true to it. It is dark, cold, silent, as the sun's 
 energy in the ether, until our souls receive it on the right 
 angle of the square, then it becomes " a lamp unto our 
 feet and a light unto our path." 
 
 The third Divine manifestation^ycnbolis&A by the cross 
 is that of Life. Through all nature there are two great 
 elemental principles variously called the active and the 
 passive, the positive and the negative, the male and the 
 female. The various units of atoms, molecules, 
 vegetables and animals possess one, or both, of these 
 principles. In the inanimate kingdom, the terms 
 " polarity " and " affinity " are employed to indicate 
 the action of these principles and the relation of the one 
 to the other. In the animate kingdom the word " sex " 
 is used for the same purpose. In both kingdoms every- 
 where we find these two elemental principles at work. 
 The formation of a crystal and of a crystaloid, the 
 building of a tree and of a man, all seem to proceed along 
 the lines of two main forces working at right angles — that 
 is, working on the square. The atoms, which form the 
 basis of the material creation, have their positive and 
 negative poles. According to the latest scientific 
 discoveries, they are the product of electricity and 
 something called pro-tyle, the one being active and the 
 other passive. 
 
 But it is for the spiritual truths which this symbol 
 reveals and yet conceals that it is of greatest importance 
 to us. In the frescoes of the Pyramids we see it in the 
 hands of the god, as the symbol of Regeneration. The 
 dead one is shown lying on the ground in the form of a 
 mummy, and the god is coming to touch his lips with it 
 
48 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 and revivify his body. Ages before Egyptian civilisation 
 dawned, it was carved on pottery, and buried with human 
 bodies along with food and weapons, the evidence, even 
 in that early period, of a faith in a resurrection and a life 
 beyond the tomb.* 
 
 It is a somewhat saddening and peculiar fact that this 
 sacred s}nnbol should have been associated with, what 
 appears to us to be, a vile and most degrading worship. 
 While the Phallic cult may have originally been the 
 recognition of a Divine purpose running through all the 
 arrangements for the propagation of life, and of the 
 symbolic lesson therein of a spiritual regeneration, yet the 
 broad fact remains that the multitude saw in it the reflex 
 of their own animal passions. It brought ruin on the Greek 
 and Roman empires. Had the glory of art, the abundance 
 of wealth, the grandeur of philosophy, or the culture of the 
 intellect, possessed any power of salvation, these peoples 
 would have survived. But salvation is neither possible 
 to the individual, nor to the community, that is impure. 
 If you worship the brute, a brute you will be. If you 
 would be divine, worship the Divine. Well did the 
 Knight Sir Galahad say, — 
 
 "My strength is as the strength of ten, 
 Because my heart is pure." 
 
 Ths fourth Divine manifestation symbolised by the cross 
 is that of Love. From the degrading associations of 
 Phallic worship this symbol had to be purged and 
 purified by blood and sorrow. For many years it was 
 an instrument of tyranny for the infliction of cruel and 
 
 ■* A curious custom, no doubt still existing in some parts, was c«mmoa some fifty 
 years ago in Scotland. In the M.M. ceremony, a Square was secreted on 
 the person of the chief individual, at that stage of the proceedings which a 
 M.M. will readily imagine. Can there be any possiiile connection between this 
 and the placing of the pottery with the Paleeolithic Cross in the prehistoric graves ? 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 49 
 
 intense suffering. There can be little doubt but thousands 
 suffered on it whose only fault was in being too good to be 
 understood. The divine soul everywhere is at first 
 misunderstood. His language is heaven-bom and his 
 earth-bound hearers cannot interpret it. Hence the 
 thorny crown of derision. The good are not allowed to 
 pursue their quiet path. They »re dragged into the full 
 blaze of fame and their pains and punishment become 
 their glory. Love's best work is most likely to be 
 rejected and despised. The key-stone of genius and piety 
 often receives the " heave-over," as the prelude to 
 exaltation and the highest honour is ever gained through 
 sacrifice. Suffering is the perfecting process of the perfect 
 ashlar. Insensibility is the sign of degradation. 
 Capacity for suffering is the mark and insignia of rank 
 in the scale of evolution. The higher the love, the deeper 
 the sorrow. Through tribulation the higher forms of life 
 are born. By painful endeavour only, the divine rises 
 out of the human and climbs upwards, and the highest 
 patent to soul-nobility is sealed in fire and blood. Why 
 there should be pain and sorrow is hard to understand, 
 and, more particularly, why they should so often be the 
 lot of the noble and the good. We cannot grasp the whole 
 truth of the matter, yet we know that our sorest sorrows 
 are often our greatest blessings, and hence we believe an 
 infinite loving purpose runs through all. Out of the sin, 
 suffering and sorrow of humanity, the Divine Love will 
 regenerate and raise the soul to life eternal. This is the 
 highest significance of this symbol. The lines of mortality 
 and immortality, of pain and pleasure, of sorrow and joy, 
 here meet in the centre of death, and d.eath itself becomes 
 a manifestation of Divine Love. 
 
 The Divine manifestations in the Power, that rules and 
 E 
 
50 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS MISSION 
 
 works through the material creation ; in the Light, that 
 shows the majesty and beauty of the heavens and the 
 earth ; in the Life, that throbs and propagates itself in 
 manifold and multitudinous forms throughout the globe, 
 are but the forerunners of the greater manifestation in the 
 Lave that can create righteousness and peace out of sin 
 and selfishness, transform sorrow and suffering into 
 bhss and glory, and raise mortality through the gloomy 
 portals of the grave into immortality and eternal light. 
 The Earth-Spirit in Faust sings : — 
 
 " In Being's floods, in Action's storm, 
 I walk and work, above, beneath, 
 Work and weave in endless motion ! 
 
 Birth and Death, 
 
 An infinite ocean ; 
 
 A seizing and giving. 
 
 The fire of Living : 
 'Tis thus at the roaring Loom of Time I ply. 
 And weave for God the Garment thou seest Him by." 
 
 Yes, the Divine Jehovah circumscribes Himself in the 
 universe around us and the garment of His manifesta- 
 tions is woven on the square. In "the roaring Loom of 
 Time " the garment passes before our vision for a little 
 and is lost in the gathering beam behind, and although 
 we cannot understand the why or wherefore of it all, we 
 can yet see that every thread is running on the square, 
 and that the whole garment is woven in crosses, to the 
 right angle of eternal Justice and Love. 
 
 (6) Summary of the Law of the Square. 
 
 We have considered The Law of the Square (1) in 
 Nature, (2) in Material Building, (3) in Moral Building, 
 
THE LAW OF THE SQUARE 51 
 
 (4) in the Symbol of the Point within the Circle, and (5) 
 in the Symbol of the Cross. The conclusion and the 
 lesson we draw from all these considerations is, that 
 just as the operative master cannot err from the square 
 if he keeps true to the earth's centre of gravity, so we 
 cannot err from the square morally so long as we keep 
 true to the Divine Centre of All* Carlyle in his Past and 
 Present says, " Towards an eternal centre of right and 
 nobleness, and of that only, is all this confusion tending." 
 Through all the doubts and uncertainties, the trials and 
 triumphs, the clouds and sunshine of the circle of human 
 life, there is only one point we can with certainty rely on, 
 there is only one centre that can give us the right angle 
 by which to live and work together. Amid all the mystery 
 of sin, misery, and pain, the red riot of war and the 
 thousand forms of evil around us, the one consdling faith 
 is, that in the centre of this incomprehensible universe 
 there beats the living, loving heart of an Almighty 
 Father, Who will place in His eternal Temple all that is 
 true and square and Who out of this dark material chaos 
 shall yet evolve a glorious spiritucd cosmos : 
 
 " For so the whole round earth is every way 
 Bound by gold chains about the feet of God."* 
 
 * Tennyson's " Morte D' Arthur." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE QUARRIES, OR THE SELECTION OF THE 
 MATERIAL. 
 
 Having considered " The Law of the Square," which 
 governs the plan and the work of building, we will now 
 turn our attention to the details, or sections, of the work. 
 The first step in building is to procure material for the 
 structure, to find out the available quarries from which 
 such material can be got, and to select the material best 
 suited for the nature and the character of the structure 
 designed. We propose, therefore, to consider this part 
 of our subject' under the three following points : — 
 
 (1) The Material Suitable. 
 
 (2) The Quarries Available. 
 
 (3) The Process of Selection. 
 
 (1) The Material Suitable. 
 
 The word " material " is here used in its primary 
 sense, meaning — " building stuff," and, as our proposed 
 edifice is not of matter but of spirit, our building stuff, 
 or material, must be of a like nature. It is the thoughts 
 that occupy our minds and absorb our hearts that form 
 the material for the Ideal Temple or Soul-Structure. 
 
 We have what we call " habits," a word, as you know, 
 that comes from the Latin " habitus " — a state, tendency. 
 
THE QUARRIES, OR SELECTION OF THE MATERIAL 53 
 
 or condition. It implies environment, and hence it is 
 applied to clothes, costumes, and houses. There are 
 habits which we wear, and there are habitations which 
 we, inhabitants, inhabit. The mind dominates the body 
 and our mental habits dominate our characters and lives. 
 Thoughts run in grooves. Like streams of water they 
 make their own channels. EPabit is the groove, or 
 channel, of thought, and its banks form the natural 
 boundaries of our lives. As the protozoic cells become 
 the bodies in which the life dwells ; as the secretions of 
 the mollusc forms the shell in which it lives ; and, as the 
 stones from the quarries form our dwelling houses ; so 
 Thought secretes and generates, shapes and moulds, 
 forms and builds that ethereal something, which forms 
 the abode or habitation of our souls. 
 
 Every moment of our lives we are thinking. Even 
 in sleep, although we may not always be conscious of it, 
 we are thinking. With every pulse of life there is thought. 
 Just as life in the natural world, in its infinite variety of 
 forms, is ever moving and working without pause or 
 rest ; so is thought, with endless motion, making and 
 moulding in the spiritual world. Thought, like Life, is 
 a mystery. We know of it, but cannot explain it. 
 Whence thoughts come, or whither they travel, who can 
 tell ? We are not their creators. We can no more create 
 thoughts than we can create stones. The inspirations 
 of the poet, or the artist, are as great a surprise to him 
 as to us. The thought sometimes comes like a flash and 
 stands, full and clear, before the mind's eye. At other 
 times, it is painfully bom of long patient brooding. In 
 whatever manner they may be evolved, our thoughts 
 stand out to our mental vision, distinguished from each 
 other by their form. They come and go. Disappearing 
 
54 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 to-day, they may reappear to-morrow, or not for years. 
 But whether they reappear immediately, or not for a 
 long period, they are all the time floating in those 
 mysterious recesses of our souls, which we have not as 
 yet been able to explore, and into which our mental 
 vision cannot yet penetrate. 
 
 As the nature of the structure at which we are working 
 demands thought-material, so, also, its character calls 
 for the selection of good material. Every human being 
 is a builder of his eternal habitation, whether he wills it 
 or not. We determine our own reward and our own 
 punishment. God does not punish us. We do that full 
 well ourselves. We build our thoughts into a Temple, or 
 into a prison. If we build according to the plan on our 
 trestleboard, our reward will be a glorious Temple, in 
 which the Divine Father Himself will dwell with us. If 
 we build not to that plan, our punishment will be a 
 prison of our own building, the dismal walls of which will 
 separate us from Light, Love, and Liberty. 
 
 In these circmnstances, it is of the utmost importance 
 that we should select suitable and good material for our 
 building. How often has the genius of the architect, the 
 skill of the operative, and the expenditure of capital and 
 labour been lost through the bad character of the 
 material on which they were expended ? Of what use 
 is genius, skill, and wealth when allied with material of 
 a transitory and inferior nature ? Goodness is the great 
 essential in all things, and in our soul-structures it is 
 everything. We are at present engaged in selecting 
 material for a building that has to last, not for a few 
 years, nor for an age, but for ever. ^ It depends on our 
 selection whether we wiU dwell in the hereafter 
 surrounded by things lovely and good, or by things ugly 
 
THE QUARRIES, OR SELECTION OF THE MATERIAL 55 
 
 and evil. You cannot build a sound structure with sand 
 and shalgstones. You cannot get good fruit from a 
 poisonous plant. Figs are not of thistles nor grapes of 
 thorns. It is quality, not quantity, that is worth 
 considering. The character of our present thoughts 
 determine the nature of our future existence, and hence 
 the supreme importance of selecting the good, the 
 beautiful, and the true. 
 
 (2) The Quarries Available. 
 
 In his course of instruction the mason is taught to 
 seek the material for building his Temple from Revelation 
 and Creation, Science and Art, and from human life, its 
 dependence, its trials and sorrows, its uncertainty, its 
 brevity, and its eternal consequences. Pre-eminently, 
 the Scriptures are indicated as the best quarry from which 
 he can draw material for this building. It does not, 
 however, limit the Scriptures to any particular book or 
 books. They are the words of Divine wisdom formed by 
 human thought. The ages sift the chaff of literature and 
 leave the wheat. The truth survives because it is 
 immortal. The word is of God. The gross body, the 
 mortal, perishes and the spirit lives for ever. The 
 Divine message, God-breathed through the souls of men, 
 lies written in the Scriptures. They live through the 
 centuries, because their work is not yet accomplished. 
 As their mission is fulfilled, they will merge and disappear 
 in a brighter revelation of the truth. For the present, 
 however, they are our " great light." 
 
 The great advocate of Christianity said, " All 
 Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable 
 for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
 
56 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 in righteousness : That the man of God may be perfect, 
 throughly furnished unto all good works." Now, masonry 
 does not confine the words, " All Scripture," to a certain 
 collection of writings. Its evident teaching is that the 
 inspiration or breathing of God through the human soul 
 has not been confined to one form of religion, to one race, 
 or to one period in human history ; and hence, the old 
 Hebrew Scriptures, the modem Bible, the Koran, and 
 the Vedas, may all lie on the altars of masonry according 
 to the belief of the members of the lodge being that of 
 Hebrew, Christian, Mohammedan, or Hindu. Each may 
 be conscientiously convinced that his revelation is the 
 highest and to him it is so. God only knows the Truth 
 absolutely. We know only conditionally and must work 
 to the part of the plan given to us. It holds that man 
 must have some divine revelation — must seek for the 
 light higher than human to guide and govern him. But 
 it promulgates no hard and fast dogma on the subject. 
 It does not make a lantern and pretend that it encloses 
 all the light divine. It is essentially religious, yet it is 
 not dogmatic. Its bond of union is strong, but it gives 
 the utmost freedom of conscience. It unites men, not 
 on a creed bristling with dubious points, but on the 
 broad, simple, grand Faith in God, as the Great Architect 
 and Grand Master Builder of the Universe, with Whom, 
 and for Whom, men are to live and work. 
 
 The dogmatic creed, religious or political, that ignores 
 the Law of Variation goes in the teeth of nature and 
 hence becomes a hollow sheU of dead bones. The 
 tendency of such is to frighten and boycott, if not to gag 
 and imprison all who differ from it. With nature it is 
 otherwise. It gives fairplay and freedom to every 
 variation and hence the fittest prevail. The fittest 
 
THE QUARRIES, OR SELECTION OF THE MATERIAL 57 
 
 always is that which is truest to the laws of existence. 
 Nature fights for and with truth, and truth runs with 
 nature. Every new interpretation of Creation, or of 
 Revelation, has the right to be heard. The originator 
 of every reform was an agitator. The despised heresy of 
 to-day may be the orthodox doctrine of to-morrow. In 
 Masonry we have a different sffiindpoint and a broader 
 view than that taken in the outer world generally. The 
 atmosphere of the true lodge is free from the influence 
 of creed or party, and the appreciation of ideas and of 
 work is determined by how far they make firmer and 
 broader the onward way of Humanity. 
 
 In Masonry the Sacred Book lies open. There is no 
 attempt at any interpretation of it. It lies open to 
 signify that it is open to all and that each must interpret 
 the revelation for himself. On its pages lie the square 
 and the compasses, with" the aid of which we are to 
 work out its plan of life. The square represents the 
 perfect balance of things, material and moral — in the 
 natural world called " poise " or " rest," and in the 
 moral sphere called " justice." The compasses are the 
 symbol of that which controls and guides energy or 
 power, called in nature "Law" and in morals "Will." 
 
 The workman's square gives to his work the perfect 
 poise of the central forces in nature, and the faculty of 
 conscience keeps man's soul in harmony with the eternal 
 justice that shapes and governs all things. 
 
 The compasses give the wheel and lever control to the 
 craftsman whereby he can direct, through obedience to 
 law, the vast energies of nature. The " Will " if culti- 
 vated and developed, through Faith and Obedience, 
 gives the human soul the infinite resources of the 
 Supreme Will. Obedience is the sceptre of infinite 
 
58 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 power. Just in proportion as we obey the law, or 
 Supreme Will, can we command and direct its infinite 
 energies. Yet this power is in us and not of us. It is 
 through us and not by us. Wonderful and mysterious 
 are the conditions under which we live. The Infinite 
 and the Eternal One, the All-loving and All-mighty One 
 works and drudges for us and places His power in our 
 hands if we but be His obedient children. We think our 
 engines and machines do our work. They are but the 
 harness in which He works for us. Some of us attribute 
 the results and product to what we call nature, trying 
 by a play of words to escape from the frank and fair 
 acknowledgment of God's power and love. Nature is 
 but dead matter shaped and moved by an infinite force. 
 It is but the Veil moving and working with vibrations 
 that come from the mysterious Beyond ; and, although 
 we may fail to grasp the whence and the whither, the 
 why and the wherefore of these movements, we can 
 discern that they all somehow run to the right angle of 
 eternal Justice and Love. 
 
 The Scriptures, then, are to be interpreted and worked 
 into our lives with the aid of Conscience and Will. Our 
 concepts are to be squared with the dictates of a free 
 and clear conscience and circumscribed by a faithful and 
 obedient will. We have access, also, to Creation, from 
 which to draw constant supplies of material. Life and 
 Nature, Science and Art, as well as Literature — sacred 
 and secular-^are all quarries in which we are to seek and 
 from which we are to obtain the material for the building 
 of our Temple. The operative mason does not create the 
 material he uses. The stone and timber have already 
 been created. His work is to shape, hew and build 
 the material to his plan. And so, also, is it with the 
 
THE QUARRIES, OR SELECTION OF THE MATERIAL 59 
 
 speculative mason. From the mines of scientific research, 
 from the forests of reUgious faith, from the quarries of 
 art and literature, he obtains truths as material which 
 he is to shape and fashion to the plan of the Temple. 
 Science and Art are ever digging out from the heart of 
 nature new facts. Religion is ever evolving fresh aspects 
 of eternal truth in the soul of mJm, and if masons are to 
 be true to their mission, if they are to carry on the work 
 of the Great Temple they must be ever ready to use these 
 fresh discoveries. 
 
 (3) The Process of Selection. 
 
 Science has revealed to us something of the method of 
 the building of life structures in the natural world. There 
 is first the microscopic protoplasm containing within it 
 the power which we call life. This develops cell after 
 cell and these are united together until the perfect 
 structure is built up. This process goes on, so long as 
 the ceUs work true, or square, to what are called the laws 
 of nature, or plan of the Great Architect. The moment 
 there is sin against these laws, the work of true building 
 ceases, and there is nothing left but a ruined mass of cells. 
 
 In Art the method is that of selecting natural material 
 and shaping it into certain forms to serve as imits for the 
 structure. These units like the cells in natural life have 
 to be carefully prepared and fitted for their place. 
 Analogous to that of nature and of art is the formation of 
 our soul-structures. We must build. The process of 
 thought never ceases, and we are constantly selecting 
 material and building it into our eternal habitations. 
 
 Thoughts have their forms as real as the plants and 
 animals of the natural creation. It is by these forms we 
 
€0 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 differentiate one thought from another. They also have 
 their character, good or bad, and each multiphes according 
 to its kind. Evil thoughts propagate evil, and good brings 
 forth good. The world of man's mind must be peopled 
 with thought-forms of some kind. Nature abhors a 
 vacuum mentally, as well as physically. If you do not 
 people your mind with angels, you will soon find it filled 
 with devils. 
 
 We cannot create thought, but we have the power to 
 accept the good and reject the evil. That which we 
 invite enters into our minds. We summon spirits, good 
 or evil, and they come and dwell in us. 
 
 Thoughts are evolved through, and not by, our minds. 
 We are not creators. We are cultivators and builders. 
 A man cannot choose his environment, although he may 
 modify it. Without any will of his, he is born in the 
 slum, or in the palace. An iron purpose girdles and 
 restricts him. There is an untouchable horizon round 
 every life. But, within these restrictions, he is conscious 
 of responsibility. He feels that his eternal happiness 
 depends on living true to his conscience. He feels he 
 has the power of selection. Like the gardener, while he 
 cannot create, he can cultivate. Like the mason, while 
 he cannot make the material, he can choose it, shape it 
 to his purpose, and build with it. 
 
 But here the question arises, by what are we to 
 determine what is good and what is bad material ? We 
 all feel we have gone wrong and we all know we are not 
 infallible. After making fuU allowance for heredity and 
 environment, we are conscious of doing what we ought 
 not to do and neglecting what we ought to do. How, 
 then, shall we be able to know and to select good thought ? 
 We see a beautiful flower or we hear a melodious sound 
 
THE QUARRIES, OR SELECTION OF THE MATERIAL 61 
 
 and we feel pleasure in them. Why ? No one can 
 explain, except somewhat in this way. The beauty of the 
 flower and the melody of the sound accord with an inner- 
 feeling, or sense, created and more or less developed in us. 
 In the same plain but somewhat mysterious manner do 
 we know what is good and what is evil. Absolute good 
 or absolute evil is beyond us, but there is an inward 
 monitor that constantly pronounces judgment on our 
 thoughts and actions, and this is Conscience. The careful 
 cultivation and preservation of this faculty is a duty 
 of greater importance even than the development of the 
 intellect. Too much prominence is given to the mental 
 in Education now-a-days. We forget that the heart is. 
 of greater value than the head. Learning and even 
 genius is not so important an asset to a community as 
 character, and character is formed by conscience. The 
 mariner must not only be guided by his compass, he 
 must also preserve it from disturbing influences, if he is 
 to reach his haven in safety. The mason must not only 
 shape his work by the square, he must also keep his 
 square true, if his building is to be strong and stable. 
 So must we keep and preserve a true conscience. If our 
 conscience is wrong, we will certainly go wrong, and the 
 fact that we have gone wrong is often the certain proof 
 that our conscience is not right. When we find ourselves 
 going wrong, the important thing is not so much the 
 going wrong as the putting of our conscience right. Ta 
 do so, we must find something outside of ourselves by 
 which to adjust it. The master proves the craftsman's 
 square by constructing a right angle, and the teaching 
 of masonry is, that the right angle by which the conscience 
 can be put right can only be formed by relying on the 
 Great Centre. 
 
62 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 The maintenance of a true conscience, void of offence 
 to God and man, lies in the desire and constant effort 
 to keep it true. The whole experience of hvimanity is, 
 if you earnestly seek for truth you shall find it, if you 
 sincerely ask for good it shall be given unto you. There 
 is, as Matthew Arnold puts it, " An infinite power, 
 outside of ourselves, making for righteousness." This 
 infinite power will work with us so long as we are, also, 
 making for righteousness. We are not the blind slaves 
 of an inexorable destiny. We are capable of working 
 through law and conquering through obedience. We 
 are, it is true, fettered by our past. We are bound by 
 habits of body and mind as by chains. Sometimes we 
 sigh for freedom and pray for a miracle to be performed 
 on our account. But we really are free if we but will it. 
 By obedience, by self-denial, lies the road to victory and 
 liberty. The demons within us — the creatures we have 
 cherished and nourished — ^must be fought and wrestled 
 with. We may fail and fall time and again, but if we 
 fight on, sure as the sun overpowers the clouds of night, 
 so will we conquer. The walls of our prison are our own 
 building and we can hew our way out. The universe 
 wiU work with us if we desire truth and goodness. The 
 absolute unerring exactitude of law — the "infinite power, 
 outside of ourselves, making for righteousness " will 
 become our hope, as well as our faith, and will ultimately 
 perfect us. 
 
 Thoughts are the parents of Deeds. The power of 
 temptation lies in the evil within, more than in the 
 circumstance without. To the perfectly pure mind there 
 is no temptation possible. We sometimes hear of a 
 crime committed on the impulse of the moment. But, 
 previous to the crime, the evil thought must have been 
 
THE QUARRIES, OR SELECTION OF THE MATERIAL 63 
 
 entertained. Impulse is generated in the mind as 
 electricity in a cloud. The cloud comes into the sphere 
 of certain conditions and the flash and the crash follow. 
 We cherish certain thoughts and thus generate forces as 
 sure in their action as those we observe in nature. If we 
 have impure desires, or malicious thoughts, these will, 
 when opportunity comes, inevitslbly break out into evil 
 deeds. The impulse may come like a flash of lightning, 
 but it has been generated by evil thoughts and desires. 
 If noble thoughts and pure feelings had been cherished 
 the crime would never have been committed. 
 
 We are generally careful about our actions and too 
 careless about our thoughts. Somehow we are apt to 
 think there is no great harm done in fostering evil 
 thoughts. The tiny tiger-cub seems so harmless, we 
 think we can play with it and keep it in our house. But 
 some day it will suddenly leap upon us and tear us to 
 pieces. It is in the evil thought that sin really lies. 
 Thought is the powder of action, circumstance is but the 
 spark. Cherish noble thoughts and your life will be 
 noble. Desire to be good and good thoughts will come to 
 you. Get the inner hfe right and there will be no fear 
 of the outer going wrong. There is a deep philosophic 
 truth in the oft quoted lines of Bums : — 
 
 " Nae treasures, nor pleasures. 
 Could make us happy lang ; 
 The heart ay's the part ay 
 
 That makes us right or wrang." 
 
 If we cherish evil thoughts, these will go on developing 
 and the soul will try in vain to build them into a lasting 
 structure. They are not square to our conscience and 
 hence are untrue to the Great Centre of All. All the 
 ingenuity of man or devil will never make unsquare work 
 
64 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 stand. Sooner or later the soul that tries to do so will 
 look upon the ruins of his life. It is Sisyphus perpetually 
 rolling the stone but never reaching the top of the hill. 
 Ruin, everlasting ruin, can only be the result of trying 
 to build a habitation for the soul with evil thoughts. 
 
 In the human soul, Conscience is the dominant factor 
 in the creation of what we caU character, and character 
 is determined by the thoughts that occupy the mind. If 
 the Conscience selects good thoughts a condition, or 
 habit, that makes for goodness is created, and, if the 
 selection is bad, an opposite tendency or habit is created. 
 This habit of the mind in relation to thought is analogous 
 to what we call environment in nature. Science tells us 
 that in every form of life there is a persistent tendency to 
 the recurrence of the type, and, at the same time, a 
 constant effort to throw off variations of the type. The 
 one is termed the Law of Heredity and the other the 
 Law of Variation. If the environment is more favourable 
 to the variation than to the original, it will flourish and 
 the original will die. Thus goes on the process of progress, 
 or evolution. It is the practice of the precept, " Prove 
 all things ; hold fast that which is good." Nature is 
 prodigal in her efforts to progress. New forms are put 
 forth in abundance, hu\ the fittest only survive. Every 
 thing is proven. Nothing is passed into the Great Temple 
 of Nature that accords not with the plan and purpose of 
 Creation. That which accords not receives " the heave 
 over amid the rubbish." The persistency of the Law of 
 Heredity — holding fast to the proven type — represents 
 the Conservative element in nature. The constancy of 
 the Law of Variation in producing new forms represents 
 the Progressive principle in nature. Both old and new 
 are subjected to the trial of their environment and they 
 
THE QUARRIES, OR SELECTION OF THE MATERIAL 65 
 
 must have the capacity of conforming to it if they are to 
 exist. The result is the rejection of the unfit and the 
 adoption of the fittest. Thus, the Law of Variation 
 prevents retrogression, and the Law of Heredity 
 conserves progression. 
 
 In the human mind the forms of thought seem to be 
 subject to the same, or similar, laws as those of Heredity 
 and Variation in the natural world. Our thoughts 
 propagate with the same tendency towards the recurrence 
 of the t5^e and towards the production of variations. It 
 depends on the habit, or conditions, the environment, 
 or character, of the mind as to what kind of forms will 
 survive. As we have remarked. Conscience determines 
 this habit of thought. It is by it we judge what is good 
 and bad, and, by the selection of the good and the re- 
 jection of the bad, create a habit favourable to good 
 in which evil thoughts will decay and die. 
 
 From the foregoing considerations we may safely 
 conclude that an environment making for righteousness 
 and, by the natural process of selection, choosing good 
 material for the building of our soul-structures, can only 
 be formed in the heart and mind by cultivating and 
 cherishing good thoughts. One of earth's greatest 
 teachers said, " Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever 
 things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever 
 things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever 
 things are of good report . . think on these things." 
 Yes, think on these things. This is the key to the whole 
 problem of the selection of good material. Let us think 
 only of what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and good ; 
 exclude all that is imtrue, unjust, impure, and bad, and 
 we will create a mental environment in which evil 
 thought cannot live and thrive. We will be able to draw 
 
 F 
 
66 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 from every realm of nature and of art, of creation and 
 revelation, good material for the building of the Ideal 
 Temple in which our souls shall dwell for evermore, and 
 we will find — • 
 
 " Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
 Sermons in stones and good in every thing." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE LODGE, OR THE PREPARATION OF THE 
 MATERIAL. 
 
 In the lodge there are certain things which we cannot 
 make the subject of public discussion. Fortunately 
 these do not come, to any material extent, within the 
 lines of our present observations. While masonry has 
 its secrets; its s3n3ibols and principles, as a rule, are as 
 open as the face of nature for contemplation and for 
 free discussion, and within these we will find all we require 
 for our present purpose. 
 
 We propose considering the following aspects of " The 
 Lodge," viz. : — 
 
 (1) The Nature of its Work. 
 
 (2) Its Relation to Religion. 
 
 (3) Its Relation to the Outer World. 
 
 (4) Its Ideal Plan. 
 
 (5) Its Course of Instruction. 
 
 (6) Its Chief End. 
 
 (1) The Lodg^—The Nature of its Work. 
 
 In the lodge there are two significant terms in common 
 use. Money matters, election of office-bearers, laws and 
 bye-laws and such like, are all called Business. The 
 ceremonies of the degrees, etc., are named Work. 
 
68 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 The Work, or main function, of the lodge, consists of 
 certain ceremonies s37mbolical in character and mainly, 
 but not exclusively, based on the work of operative 
 masonry. Operative and speculative masonry are 
 related somewhat in the same way as the inanimate and 
 the animate kingdoms in the natural world. In both the 
 substance is the same, and the one furnishes food for the 
 other. So operative masonry furnishes food for the 
 speculative. The one rises out of the other. The one 
 is dead, the other is living. The one is practically 
 constant, the other progressively changes. 
 
 In ancient operative masonry the material for a 
 building, after being selected in the quarries, was taken 
 to the lodge, or workshop. There, according to the plan, 
 it was shaped and carved and made fit for a place in the 
 building. In speculative masonry, the lodge exists for a 
 purpose analogous to that. But there is this important 
 difference — in the operative, the material was something 
 outside of the craftsman ; in the speculative, it is some- 
 thing inside of him. He is both material and worker, 
 and the lodge is the workshop in which he is to shape and 
 square his thoughts to the plan of life laid down on the 
 Divine Trestleboard. 
 
 (2) The Lodge — lis Relation to Religion. 
 
 At first sight it might be supposed that masonry 
 claims to fill the function of religion and that it is, 
 therefore, antagonistic to it. But it makes no [such 
 claim. It formulates no dogma, the acceptance or 
 rejection of which ensures eternal salvation, or the 
 opposite. It simply demands three general principles of 
 Faith, common to all religions. These are : — 
 
THE LODGE, OR THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL 69 
 
 First. — ^That there exists an almighty creative power, 
 
 infinite, eternal and beneficent, that rules all 
 
 things and whom it designates — " The Great 
 
 Architect," " The Grand Geometrician," and 
 
 " The Most High." 
 
 Second. — That this Divine Architect, by Inspiration 
 
 and Creation, has laid down His Plan of Life 
 
 for our government and guidance. 
 
 Third. — ^That the Human Soul is immortal. 
 
 These three central truths of masonry are the 
 
 foundation of all its teachings. That the Creator of All 
 
 has revealed a plan of life is acknowledged by all religions. 
 
 Masonry says each man must read that plan according 
 
 to his conscience. He must choose his own religion. 
 
 Then, and not till then, begins the work of masonry. 
 
 The lodge exists as a place wherein masons of varied 
 
 creeds and different religions may work in peace and 
 
 harmony to the plan of life, but it does not pretend to 
 
 declare, or to reveal, that plan. The Conscience of each 
 
 man must determine that. It only determines and 
 
 teaches the method and way of working to the plan that 
 
 may he accepted. 
 
 (3) The Lodge — Its Relation to the Outer World. 
 
 As rudimentary organs in the early development of 
 various animals indicate their future function in the 
 world, so in the old Operative Lodges we perceive the 
 rudiments of the present and future speculative system 
 of masonry. The central motor-idea in the old Operative 
 Lodge was the building of a sacred structure. Round that 
 all its organisation was formed, and to that end its work 
 was directed. In the same way, but s5mibolically, the 
 
70 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 motor-idea of the Speculative Lodge is the building of a 
 sacred structure in accordance with the plan of life laid 
 down by the Great Architect. Round this, as a centre, 
 all the ceremonies and symbols of the lodge have been 
 evolved. It is as the sun in the solar system. Without 
 it, all is darkness and chaos. In the lodge the mason is 
 taught how to work at the building, and the preparation 
 necessary for this course of instruction begins with The 
 Triple Renunciation. 
 
 The symbols of the Outer World — the insignia of 
 Rank, the sword of Power, and the purse of Wealth, are 
 laid aside. This does not imply a retreat from the 
 ordinary cares and duties of life. In the world but not 
 of it, is the masonic idea. It means that rank, power, and 
 wealth are no longer to have the first place in the desires 
 of the heart, nor in the shaping of the life. Why is this 
 Triple Renunciation demanded ? Because it is impossible 
 to carry on the true work of the lodge if the rank, power, 
 and wealth of the outer world are acknowledged within 
 it. On this point let there be no misunderstanding. Men 
 of title, position, and wealth, if " home " into the lodge 
 " of their own free-will and accord " and if " under the 
 tongue of good report," should be ever welcome, but not 
 because of their position or wealth. Their acceptance 
 must be based alone on their moral qualities as men. 
 Their social position can only be viewed as giving them 
 a better opportunity of being more useful and of doing 
 more good. Rank, power, and wealth have essentially 
 no affinity with the work of true Masonry. They belong 
 to the material : it is of the moral world. 
 
 With a knowledge of the present condition of many 
 lodges in their minds, some may, perhaps, smile 
 sarcastically at these remarks. But the ideal is never 
 
THE LODGE, OR THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL 71 
 
 attained in any institution. Lodges, like churches, are 
 often the opposite of what they should be, and many 
 masons, like many Christians, are so only in name. 
 
 (4) The Lodge — Its Ideal Plan. 
 
 On the Trestleboard of the Apprentice there is a 
 peculiar and interesting sjnnbol known as the Plan of 
 the Ideal Lodge. Unhappily, like many others, this 
 symbol is much misunderstood and is often unknown by 
 members of the Craft. It may not, therefore, be un- 
 profitable at present to consider it and its lessons. Ita 
 the old categorical lectures it is referred to in a grotesque 
 and, at first sight, nonsensical form, seemingly intended 
 to repel those not earnestly seeking the truth. It is, 
 however, full of significance and worthy of consideration. 
 
 The lodge is said to be distinguished by its (a) Situation, 
 (b) Position, (c) Form, (d) Dimensions, (e) Supports, 
 (f) Covering, (g) Furniture, (h) Ornaments, (i) Lights, 
 and (j) Jewels. 
 
 (a) Its Situation includes the highest hill and the 
 lowest valley, for the conditions of humanity embraced 
 within the walls of the lodge are all unequal as the surface 
 of the earth. It includes the high and the low, the rich 
 and the poor ; its light radiates round the palace of the 
 prince and brightens the cottage of the peasant. The 
 unevenness of the earth's surface creates stream and river, 
 loch and sea ; and, in turn, the stream rushing down the 
 rugged mountain, the river flowing through the verdant 
 plain, the sea beating in ceaseless motion its confining 
 shores, are all slowly but surely bringing hill and vale, 
 land and sea to one common level. So, too, the very 
 inequalities of human society create influences that make 
 
72 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 for equality and through every condition and rank in life 
 there are forces and tendencies towards a common level 
 of humanity. In the ideal lodge all the inequalities of 
 human society disappear, the common level is reached 
 and thus, here to-day, we realise to some extent — 
 " That one far ofi divine event 
 To which the whole creation moves." 
 
 (b) Its Position is due east and west, and its entrance 
 is in the west. Our proper position is facing the source 
 of Light. Our attitude is that of expectancy, of constant 
 hope. The night of sorrow and fear, of frailty and failure, 
 lies behind us in the west. We are ever facing the 
 everlasting to-morrow. Mourn not, therefore, over the 
 past. It is dead and shall rise again either redeemed, 
 purified, and glorified, or doubly damned, by the spirit 
 of our lives now and henceforth. The past is no longer 
 ours. It is of the finite. The infinite lies before us. Let 
 us turn our faces, therefore, eastward, hopefully, man- 
 fully, resolutely. The coming mom brings with it duties 
 and opportunities. Every one has his work before him. 
 Never mind the plan to which others have to work, and 
 trouble not with vain questions as to why your plan 
 differs from theirs. The Great Architect knows. Turn 
 your face eastward towards the Light. 
 
 (c) Its Form is a right-angled oblong in the proportion 
 of three to four. Here we have the right angle of Truth 
 and the proportions of harmony blended together as an 
 emblem of the ideal lodge. Truth is harmony and 
 hence we cannot have true harmony — ^however much of a 
 lower common kind — unless it is formed on the right 
 angle, and the right angle can only be formed by relying 
 on the Great Centre of All. The form of the lodge stands 
 for Truth — for the poise and peace and harmony that 
 
THE LODGE, OR THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL 73 
 
 spring from being true. Here we are to adjust and build 
 ourselves to the right angle, and in proportion as we do 
 that so will jarring injustice and discordant strife fly 
 from us. 
 
 (d) Its Dimensions are from north to south and from 
 east to west. In the outside world Love and Sympathy 
 are often bounded by a peculia* creed, a geographical 
 horizon, or a political platform, but in the ideal lodge 
 we encircle the globe and surround the poles, we embrace 
 the worthy of every clime, creed, and degree, our limits 
 are the wide horizon of heaven and our bond of brother- 
 hood, like a golden chain of peace, unites together every 
 portion of the human race. 
 
 (e) Its supports are the three great pillars of Wisdom, 
 Strength, and Beauty. History reveals the folly and 
 weakness of nations, of institutions and of individuals 
 that have tried to build on piUars of selfishness, falsehood 
 and strife. Ruin was their end and the evidence of their 
 folly. The right use of knowledge is Wisdom, obedience 
 to the higher law of our being is Strength, and the love of 
 righteousness is Beauty. These are the pillars of the 
 ideal lodge. These are the supports of the true life. 
 
 (f) Its Covering is the cloudy canopy of Heaven, up 
 to which there rises a ladder whose principal rounds are 
 Faith, Hope, and Charity. These are the three graces 
 that hold all the graces of the human soul together and 
 form the means by which it may rise to the heights 
 divine. Here, there is no roof between us and Heaven, 
 to bar us from ascending, or to keep the heavenly 
 influences from descending. It is open to Heaven and 
 open for Heaven. Aspiration and inspiration have here 
 free play. Sense may limit us like walls, but to the soul 
 that looks upwards there is no limitation. It may rise 
 
74 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 to the cloudy canopy and spread its wings in the ethereal 
 reahns of Truth. Time and space vanish. The walls of 
 sense are surmounted. Every step shows a new and wider 
 horizon. By constant effort up this ladder we can raise 
 ourselves above ourselves and every to-morrow shall see 
 us above the ourselves of to-day. 
 
 (g) Its Furniture consists of a Trestleboard on which 
 lie the Sacred Scriptures with the Square and Compasses. 
 This does not mean that the lodge is furnished with 
 nothing else. There may be many other good things, but 
 these are not of prime importance and are as nothing 
 compared with those. The essential thing in the lodge is 
 a plan to which we must work and build our lives. The 
 Plan of the Great Architect is the only Furniture worthy 
 of notice. It is the one thing needful, and if we work to 
 it all other needful things shall be added to it. No lodge 
 can be opened without it, for how can we work without 
 a plan ? 
 
 (h) Its Ornaments are the Mosaic Pavement and the 
 Four Golden Tassels of Virtue. We walk on the chequered 
 Pavement of human life. To-day, our feet tread the 
 bright path of prosperity, to-morrow we are in the 
 shadow of adversity. Through all, the blazing star of 
 Wisdom will safely guide us if we faithfully shape our 
 course by its light, trusting that Providence will surround 
 us with everything needful, even as the Tesselated 
 Border surrounds the Pavement, and conspicuously 
 adorning our lives with the virtues of Temperance, 
 Prudence, Fortitude, and Justice, as the Four Golden 
 Tassels adorn the comers of the lodge. 
 
 (i) Its Lights are three Windows : East, South, and 
 West. These are placed in the east, south, and west 
 walls in the direction of the sun that they may receive 
 
THE LODGE, OR THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL 75 
 
 constantly his Light, thus teaching us constantly to 
 keep the Windows of our souls towards the Light 
 Divine. 
 
 (j) Its Jewels are the Trestleboard, the Rough and 
 Perfect Ashlars and the Square, Level, and Plumb. We 
 look with sorrow and sometimes with despair at our 
 rough and imperfect nature, Ifht here, in the Perfect 
 Ashlar, we behold the possibilities that lie even in the 
 roughest block from the quarries of Humanity, when, in 
 accordance with the plan laid down on the Divine 
 Trestleboard, it is wrought into proper form with the aid 
 of the Level of Humility, the Plumb-line of Rectitude, 
 and the Square of Conscience. 
 
 (5) The Lodge — Its Course of Instruction. 
 
 A different environment than that of the outer world 
 is needed for the true work of masonry. Hence, at the 
 threshold of the lodge, collateral with the Triple 
 Renunciation, comes the Quintuple Declaration. 
 
 In the old lectures these forms of Renunciation and 
 Preparation were quaintly and neatly expressed by the 
 words " off " and " on." The latter is complete when, in 
 the person of the initiate. Ignorance and Obedience, 
 Sincerity, Fidelity and Humility are conspicuously 
 and S5mibolically declared. He is taught to put " off " 
 the Rank, Power, and Wealth of the outer world and 
 to put " on " the S3mibols of his true condition — his 
 Ignorance and Obedience, Sincerity, Fidelity, and 
 Humility. These are the essential characteristics of 
 good material for the building. He makes no pretence 
 to knowledge and he is obedient that he may learn. 
 Sincerity is the purity of the material, unblemished and 
 
76 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 unweakened by admixture with worthless and vile 
 matter. Fidelity is the trueness of the reed, giving it 
 soundness and adaptability for being worked into 
 suitable shape and form. Humility is the closeness of 
 the grain, the molecules clinging together and making 
 it strong and durable. Confucius said, truly, " I do not 
 see how a man without sincerity can be good for any- 
 thing." The same may also be said of one without 
 fidelity and humility, for the man without fidelity will 
 not carry out his undertakings, and the man without 
 humility will never learn much that is worth knowing. 
 Fidelity, like a strong Right Arm, carries out the 
 purposes and desires of the Sincere Heart, and both are 
 based on the Humility that bends the Knee to obtain 
 strength from that higher Power, without Whose aid all 
 our efforts are vain. 
 
 Putting off the bondage of the outer world and 
 putting on the emblems of the inner world, the initiate 
 becomes a seeker of the Light. His Entrance is a new 
 Birth. In ignorance and helplessness, yet in obedience, 
 he pursues the path that leads to Light. Here Faith is 
 demanded. Knowledge or Experience is not the 
 beginning, but is the end of Faith. Groping in the dark 
 mysteries of life and seeking for light, man feels his need 
 of a greater power to overcome human weakness, and 
 a higher light to enlighten his understanding. Thus 
 Faith precedes Knowledge, and Knowledge justifies Faith. 
 
 But, the Light that reveals the path also reveals its 
 Dangers. From the first moment of Life, Death is ever 
 present. On either hand, at every step, it threatens him. 
 In the terrible irresistible powers of nature that environ 
 him, it ever bids him give Obedience to the laws of life. 
 In the moral world, also. Dangers surround him and 
 
THE LODGE, OR THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL 77 
 
 Conscience constantly calls him to faithful Obedience. 
 Knowledge ever brings responsibility and the law, 
 knowingly broken, revenges itself. If the Cord of 
 Conscience controls not our steps, the Sword of Law will 
 inevitably pierce our hearts. 
 
 In the lodge the Apprentice is directed for light to. 
 what are called " The Three Gfteat and the Three Lesser 
 Lights." These are, briefly. Revelation and Creation. 
 Through these man receives the light to guide him in his 
 work as a mason, or builder of the Temple. Through 
 them the Eternal Spirit communicates with the spirit 
 of man. They are the atmospheric media which make 
 it possible for the human eye to see the light Divine — 
 the unbroken glory of which it could not otherwise bear. 
 
 Creation is a loving nurse to the mind of man. At 
 every turn it invites his latent faculties into action. Its 
 lights and waters, woods and flowers, birds and beasts, 
 and thousandfold wonders arouse his curiosity and 
 command his attention. The necessities of his body for 
 food, fuel, shelter and protection call forth and develop 
 the energies of his mind. He wrests his food and fuel 
 from land and water. When his necessities are supplied 
 he develops desires for luxuries. He creates tools and 
 invents machines to minister to his wants and pleasures. 
 Through all this, his faculties develop and his knowledge 
 increases. He finds out the secrets of chemistry. He 
 commands the winds to drive him, even against them- 
 selves. He harnesses giant steam, and makes the swift 
 lightning his servant. He builds cities and navies, 
 traverses the depth of the ocean and, at this moment, 
 is pruning his wings for his flight amidst the clouds. 
 With the telescope he searches the heavens, marks and 
 measures the courses of the stars and weighs those 
 
78 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 mighty orbs as in a balance. But the Apprentice is 
 taught that all this development, knowledge, and power 
 are of little value unless he uses them to build and adorn 
 his higher nature, and not in merely gratifying his lower 
 ■desires and passions. 
 
 The Apprentice is also instructed in the lodge to clothe 
 himself with the Symbol of innocence and purity, for 
 innocence is a shield to virtue and purity disarms 
 temptation. He is to adorn himself with the Attentive 
 Ear, that gathers in the treasures of wisdom and 
 experience ; with the Silent Tongue, that preserves 
 peace and commands respect ; and with the Faithful 
 Heart, that loves truth and lives true. As the operative 
 uses his Gauge to measure his work according to the plan 
 of the Architect, so is he to measure his time to the 
 respective duties of life ; giving to each its due time and 
 attention, so that his life may be built in harmony and 
 beauty, according to the plan of the Great Architect. 
 As the operative uses the Gavel to reduce the irregularities 
 and rough edges of the stone, so is he to reduce the 
 irregularities of pride, passion, and prejudice within his 
 heart, so that he may become like unto a perfect ashlar, 
 fit for a place in the Building. 
 
 As Chalk in the hands of the Master freely marks on 
 the trestleboard the impress of his plans ; as Burning 
 Charcoal melts the hardest metals with the fervency of 
 its fire ; and as Earth ever zealously brings to life and 
 fruition the seed committed to its bosom ; so is the 
 Apprentice taught to Serve, working Freely to the great 
 plan of the Divine Architect, burning with the fervency 
 that overcomes all difficulties, and zealously producing 
 from the seeds of Truth imparted to him, fruitful works 
 of Love and Benevolence. 
 
THE LODGE, OR THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL 79 
 
 He is further instructed to work true to the Three 
 Grand Principles of Masonry — Love, Benevolence, and 
 Truth. Just as the Operative must observe the physical 
 laws that dominate matter, so must the Speculative 
 mason conform to the great moral laws that govern his 
 being, if his building is to be firm and enduring. 
 
 Love is the Ufe of goodness, viatue, and truth. Without 
 it earth would be without its sun. To love well is to be 
 well loved. Where love exists there is Heaven and hate 
 is HeU. Love triumphs over all differences. Without it 
 toleration, generosity, charity, and freedom itself would 
 die. It is the sustainer of all that is noble and good in 
 humanity. When we look on our neighbours and observe 
 their faults and failings ; when we feel hurt by their 
 selfishness and injustice, we are apt, in turn, to be selfish 
 and unjust towards them. An eye for an eye and a tooth 
 for a tooth is the law of the selfish animal. It is only when 
 we reflect that were the Great Judge of All so to try us, 
 we would be condemned beyond hope. It is only when 
 we consider our fellows in the light of the Love Divine 
 that the bond of masonry becomes possible, and from 
 the living acknowledgment of the Fatherhood of God, 
 there springs into life the brotherhood of man. How 
 appropriate then that Love should be placed as the 
 first principle of masonry. 
 
 Beneuot&nce is the practical expression of Love and 
 intensifies the spirit that gives it birth. It soothes 
 sorrow and suffering and brings joy to the miserable. It 
 extends the hand of relief to afflicted humanity, gives 
 help to the helpless and hope to the despairing. Its glory 
 and honours are eternal, and they can be earned by all. 
 
 Truth is infinite and divine. We cannot fathom its 
 depths, nor measure its circumference. We can only see 
 
80 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 in part and believe in part. We see Truth only in 
 sections. But, if Truth itself be beyond our compre- 
 hension, this at least is within our power — we can he true. 
 This is the only way to learn Truth. He who is false to 
 his Conscience and the measure of Truth within his soul 
 blinds himself. He cannot see the Truth because he is 
 untrue. It is from the Love that seeks expression in 
 good deeds, and the Benevolence that gives form to the 
 Soul of Love, that we become true men and become 
 capable of understanding Truth, and of rising into the 
 Heaven of the Godlike and the True. 
 
 Such are the leading lessons taught in the lodge to 
 the Apprentice mason. But, Man is not satisfied with 
 Faith and Belief only. As his powers mature he seeks the 
 Light of Knowledge and Experience ; so the matured 
 Apprentice " passes " on to the degree of Craftsman. 
 
 Here he is taught that as the operative, in building 
 an upright structure, must obey the great Laws of Nature 
 and work true to the Square, the Level, and the Plumb ; 
 so, in building his life into a strong stable structure, he 
 must work true to the moral principles which these 
 instruments symbolise. He is to Square his actions in 
 accordance with the dictates of his Conscience ; to apply 
 the Level of Humility to his heart and, not reljang on his 
 own strength, to build on the everlasting rock of Truth ; 
 to constantly test his life-work by the Plumb-rule of 
 uprightness so that, rising towards perfection and 
 swerving not from ^he line of rectitude, it may be 
 established in strength, and adorned with grace and 
 beauty. 
 
 In the Pavement of the Porch he sees, in its Mosaic- 
 work, the variegated surface of the earth and the 
 chequered pathway of human life ; in its Tesselated 
 
THE LODGE, OR THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL 81 
 
 Border, the sea surrounding the land and the Divine 
 Providence that surrounds humanity ; and in its Blazing 
 Star, the light giving central Sun, and the Divine 
 Wisdom that will direct man's steps if he wiLL open his 
 eyes to its guiding rays. 
 
 In the mystic Pillars of Strength and Stability he sees 
 the Equinoxes of Nature — SpriRg and Autumn, and of 
 Human Life — Youth and Age; and in their adornment 
 of Net-work, LUy-work, and Pomegranate-work, he 
 learns that the true secret of strength and stability in 
 human life, as in nature, lies in Unity of plan. Purity of 
 heart, and Fertility of mind. 
 
 In the Winding Stair of Knowledge he finds a division 
 of three, five, and seven steps, representing Mind, Matter, 
 and Form, and is taught to regard Mind as the base of 
 all creation in nature and in art ; Matter, as the medium 
 through which mind communicates with mind ; and • 
 Form, as the expression, or manifestation, of Mind on 
 Matter. He finds this stair has a dual aspect, Divine and 
 Human. The Three Steps represent the Divine Wisdom, 
 Power, and Goodness, and the Human Reason, Will, and 
 Emotion. The Five Steps are the five natural conditions 
 of Matter — Fire, Water, Earth, Air, afid Ether ; and the ■ 
 five htmian conditions of Sense — Feeling, Hearing, 
 Seeing, Tasting, and Smelling. The Seven Steps are 
 the manifestations of the Divine Mind in the seven 
 Forms of Life — Lichen, Vegetable, Reptile, Fish, Fowl, 
 Beast, and Man, and of the Human Mind in the seven 
 liberal Arts and Sciences — the Mathematical, Physical, 
 and Moral Sciences, and the Arts of Rhetoric, Painting, 
 Music, and Architecture. 
 
 The great lesson he here learns is to use all Reason, 
 Will, and Emotion, aU Sense and Matter, all Art and 
 
 G 
 
82 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 Science, as Steps by which to rise upward into the 
 Sanctuary of Truth ; and, as he passes through the 
 Veil and sees the Sacred Symbol of the Middle Chamber, 
 he begins to understand that the end of all human 
 endeavour is to reach to the Divine ; that true Know- 
 ledge and Art ever lead up to Him ; and that, behind 
 the wondrous material veil of suns, stars, and systems, 
 within the Middle Chamber of the Universe, the Infinite 
 and Eternal One ever sits in the mystery and majesty 
 of an awful silence — He, Whose name we cannot name, 
 but of Whom we feebly try to express our conception in 
 the silent, solemn, sacred symbol of the Middle Chamber. 
 Pressing onward the Craftsman is " raised " to the 
 Lodge of the Master. Man is not content with the Faith 
 of the Apprentice, nor is he complete with the Knowledge 
 of the Craftsman. His highest height is that of self- 
 sacrifice, and in death only is the fuU circle of his life 
 completed. Across the dark chasm of the grave he 
 dimly discerns the Light of Immortality — the light that 
 makes visible the darkness of things material. The 
 Symbols of Mortality, in their solemn silence, speak to 
 him with a power no eloquence can equal. They raise 
 thoughts too high for human speech, they awaken 
 feelings too deep for mortal voice, they propound a 
 problem no science can solve, they conceal a secret which 
 mortals all will know and none reveal. The brevity of 
 life and the eternal issues that hang upon the right use 
 of its powers and opportunities are in various ways 
 presented to his mind. He is reminded that the im- 
 mortal souls of men have not been bom into this world to 
 be slaves to sense, or drudges to appetite, but rather that 
 through the experiences of toil and care, pain and pleasure, 
 prosperity and adversity they may be developed into true 
 
THE LODGE, OR THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL 83 
 
 Master-Builders and, in the strength of the God-breathed 
 spirit within them — 
 
 " Rise on stepping stones 
 Of their dead selves to higher things." 
 
 (6) The Lodge — Its Chief End. 
 
 The true mason lodge provides an environment for the 
 development of the nobler nature of man, for the for- 
 mation or building up of high character. Character is 
 built of the thoughts which we allow to grow and 
 multiply within our minds. It is the soul's habitation, 
 built of thoughts and by thought, just as the crustacean 
 builds his shell. To provide a suitable environment 
 wherein this work may be carried on, the Lodge is 
 isolated from all the ordinary conditions of life. The 
 influences in humcin society that make for war and strife 
 are excluded. Sect and party, creed and politics, are 
 forbidden. The lodge is not antagonistic to the world 
 outside, but it must be kept separate and distinct from 
 it — it must be " close tyled " so that a suitable sphere 
 for the work of true building may be formed. This is the 
 true Lodge of human brotherhoo,d and it exists for the 
 building of the Temple. It is the workshop wherein the 
 souls of men may be shaped, moulded, and made fit 
 for the Great Ideal Temple. 
 
 This is the Chief End — ^the Alpha and the Omega — 
 of a lodge. This, and not the petty prosperity of 
 a Pounds-shillings-and-pence-balance, the tinsel eclat 
 of a crowd of intrants, or the beggarly boast of a rank- 
 and-title membership — this, mighty, wide embracing 
 lodge of ennobled humanity is alone worthy of our 
 devotion and of our labours. We can scarcely desire a 
 
84 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 more exalted ideal : we should never be content with a 
 lesser one. Everywhere around us to-day we hear the 
 sound of discord and strife. Abroad, blind passion and 
 mad ambition soak the earth with human blood, and 
 fill the air with cries of agony. At our doors labour 
 unrest, vice, crime, poverty, and disease are working 
 havoc quite as great ; and all the while, politicians 
 quibble and quarrel over petty policies, scientists spend 
 their time in fierce debate as to the constitution of an 
 atom, and clerics waste their energies in bitter strife over 
 the loaves and fishes. Where, we cry, is there neutral 
 ground where all these conflicting elements maybe hushed 
 to peace, and where good men of all conditions, creeds and 
 colour, may meet in the bonds of Brotherhood ? There 
 is only one spot on earth we know of that fulfils this 
 condition and that is here, in the Mason Lodge. Here, all 
 may meet together on a common level as children of the 
 One Great Father, members of the same human family, 
 and brethren of the same mystic tie. 
 
 Some may think this conception of the Lodge 
 exaggerated, transcendental and altogether singular. 
 This is not so. It has been the cherished ideal of the best 
 of masons all over the globe, and the great German poet, 
 Goethe, has most beautifully expressed it in his poem 
 " The Mason Lodge," as translated by Carlyle, with 
 which this subject maynowbe appropriately concluded: — • 
 
 " The Mason's ways are 
 A type of Existence, 
 And his persistence 
 Is as the days are 
 Of men in this world. 
 
THE LODGE, OR THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL 85 
 
 The Future hides in it 
 
 Gladness and sorrow ; 
 
 We press still thorow, 
 Nought that abides in it 
 
 Daunting us, — onward. 
 
 And solemn before us. 
 
 Veiled, the dark f ortal. 
 
 Goal of all mortal : — 
 Stars silent rest o'er us. 
 
 Graves under us silent ! 
 
 While earnest thou gazest, 
 
 Comes boding of terror. 
 
 Comes phantasm and error, 
 Perplexes the bravest 
 
 With doubt and misgiving. 
 
 But heard are the Voices, — 
 
 Heard are the Sages, 
 
 The Worlds and the Ages : 
 ' Choose well ; your choice is 
 
 Brief and yet endless :' 
 
 Here eyes do regard you. 
 
 In Eternity's stillness ; 
 
 Here is all fullness. 
 Ye brave, to reward you ; 
 
 Work, and despair not." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE TEMPLE, OR THE CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION. 
 
 (1) Retrospect and Prospect. 
 
 Let us take a brief retrospective glance over the course of 
 our enquiry into " The Mission of Masonry." 
 
 In the first chapter, the meaning of the words 
 " Mission " and " Masonry " were defined as the end and 
 purpose of building. The Mission of Masonry was 
 declared to be the building of an Ideal Temple, and that 
 Mission was to be accomplished by working and hving 
 true to the square. 
 
 The second chapter dealt with the Law of the Square 
 in Nature, in material building, and in moral building ; 
 in the symbols of the Point within the Circle and of the 
 Cross. We foimd that in Operative Building, working 
 to the square is working true to the Earth's centre of 
 Gravity ; that the instrument called the square is 
 constructed to guide the operative in so working, and is 
 the visible representative of a great invisible Law, or 
 Power, dominating all Matter. Further, that in 
 Moral Building working to the Square is living true 
 to the Divine Centre ; that the faculty called Conscience 
 will guide us in so hving, just as the square guides the 
 operative in his work ; that Conscience is the representa- 
 tive of a spiritual Law, as the square is of a natural Law ; 
 and that, if we live true to it, we will build our lives 
 square to the Divine Centre of All. 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 87 
 
 In the third chapter the selection of the Material for 
 the building of the Ideal Temple was considered. This 
 material was indicated as Thought, which has to be 
 selected, moulded, and shaped into proper form for the 
 Building. The Quarries, from which to obtain suitable 
 material, were mentioned as Scripture, Nature, Science, 
 Art, and Literature. In the process of selection. 
 Conscience was pointed out as predominant, and that 
 the selection of good thoughts created in the mind a 
 condition or habit making for goodness, while the 
 selection of bad thoughts established an opposite 
 tendency ; and, further, that the key of the problem of 
 selecting good material lay in thinking only of what is 
 true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and good; and in 
 excluding all that is untrue, unjust, impure, and bad. 
 
 In the fourth chapter we dealt with the Lodge, in the 
 nature of its Work, its relation to Religion, its relation 
 to the Outer World, its Ideal Plan, its course of Instruction 
 and its Chief End. We found that the true Mason Lodge 
 provides an environment favourable to the development 
 of the nobler nature, and the building up of high character, 
 that it is carefully " tyled," so that the war and strife 
 of the outer world may not hinder and destroy its work 
 of shaping and squaring and upbuilding human nature 
 to the plan of the great Ideal Temple. 
 
 In this, the fifth chapter, we come to view " The 
 Temple, or the Consummation of the Mission." 
 
 We may, without presumption, assume that the idea 
 of building a dwelling place for the Most High was in 
 the human mind long before the art of building was able 
 to materialise it in anything like a temple form. In the 
 very beginnings of religion, in the first stirrings of the 
 divine in the hmnan heart, this idea was no doubt 
 
88 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 present. It became the motive to architecture and 
 thereby to all the arts. The rough altars of Stonehenge 
 and elsewhere still bear witness to its early power. In 
 every age, pagan and Christian alike, God's house has 
 been the evidence of religion and the sign of civilisation ; 
 and, doubtless, formed the bond of union in those 
 fraternities, connected with the art of building, of which 
 we have glimpses now and then in early history. The 
 vast ruins of the ancient nations attest the power which 
 this idea had over the mind of paganism. The in- 
 numerable cathedrals and abbeys of the Middle Ages, 
 some of which still remain in strength almost unimpaired, 
 and in beauty only mellowed by the finger of time, 
 witness to its sway in the heart of Christianity. To-day, 
 there is not a city, town, or village throughout the world 
 where the tower, steeple, dome, or minaret does not 
 proclaim the all pervading, and the all prevailing, desire 
 in the heart of man, as expressed by the Psalmist of old, 
 " Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, 
 nor go up into my bed ; I will not give sleep to mine 
 eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place 
 for the Lord, an habitation for the Mighty God of Jacob." 
 By the efforts made to realise this idea, the mind of 
 man was developed and elevated. These efforts were at 
 first made with things material. Now, they are evolving 
 into spiritual forms. The idea is too grand and divine 
 to be confined to things of sense ; hence the ideal " house 
 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." It 
 becomes the vision that lifts the weary soul from utter 
 despair to hope and joy. To many, this world is a wild 
 battlefield for bread and breath. Round them the air 
 is tainted and the light obscured. They feel as in the 
 power of a vast whirlpool that drags them down to 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 89 
 
 physical and moral destruction. Happy for them if, by 
 faith, they behold the Eternal Temple as their ultimate 
 and permanent abode. This gives solace to the wounded, 
 strength to the feeble, hope to the miserable, and so 
 inspires poor humanity that progress and happiness 
 become possible. 
 
 There are thus two Temple^— the material and the 
 spiritual — and we propose considering these, as they 
 are presented to us in the teachings of masonry, viz. : — 
 the Temple of King Solomon and the Ideal Temple. 
 
 (2) The Temple of King Solomon. 
 
 The Temple of King Solomon is the prototype of the 
 Ideal, and the central object in Masonic tradition and 
 symbolism. Comparatively it had but a short material 
 existence, yet its impression on the minds of men has 
 been greater than that of any other. Among Eastern 
 tribes, to this day, it is spoken of with awe, and forms 
 the subject of wonderful stories and innumerable songs. 
 Its grandeur and mystery through the past ages have 
 fascinated the imaginations of men. Even among 
 modem western nations it has been the theme and 
 inspiration of a multitude of books. To the Hebrew race, 
 scattered over the world, it is the cherished memory of 
 a glory that is gone, and the confident hope of a glory 
 to be restored. Exiled wanderers over the earth for 
 many centuries, spumed and persecuted almost every- 
 where, they have yet maintained themselves as a peculiar 
 people and, in the fact of this singular preservation, they 
 not unreasonably ground their cherished hope of a 
 restoration. Some day they will return to Jerusalem 
 and rebuild the Temple on Mount Moriah. Once more 
 
90 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 its noble form shall crown those heights, and flash back 
 n resplendent glory the beams of the rising smi. The 
 praises of Zion shall again resound within, and the 
 clouds of incense and sacrifice shall again rest over its 
 sacred courts. It has formed the material of the 
 wonderful visions of Ezekiel, and the gorgeous dreams of 
 the seer of Patmos. It has been the theme of prophets 
 and poets, and the study of philosophers and historians. 
 But nowhere, perhaps, has it occupied such a unique 
 position as in the ceremonies and symbolism of masonry. 
 Here its material grandeur is lost in the glory of its 
 spiritual evolution. The vast wealth and labour lavished 
 on it, and the rare genius and skill manifested in its 
 construction, appear to have been expended for the special 
 purpose of making it a fitting symbol and prototype of 
 the great Ideal Temple of Human Brotherhood and Peace. 
 
 Let us consider the Temple of King Solomon then as 
 worthy of some attention and, as far as our limited 
 information extends, let us get some idea of it. The 
 principal authorities regarding the design and construc- 
 tion of the Temple are the first book of Kings and the 
 second book of Chronicles, in the Hebrew Scripture, and 
 the writings of Josephus. The main points for our 
 consideration are (a) The Situation, (b) The Courts, (c) 
 The Pillars, (d) The House, and (e) The Distinguishing 
 Feature. 
 
 (a) The Situation. — The building of the Temple at 
 Jerusalem was begun in the second month of the fourth 
 year of the reign of King Solomon ; being 480 years 
 after the exodus from Egypt, and 1012 years b.c. It 
 was finished in the eighth month of the eleventh year of 
 that reign, and was thus seven and a half years in 
 building. It was situated on the brow of Mount Moriah, 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 91 
 
 a rugged hill overlooking Jerusalem. This hill, from its 
 nature and position, was probably a place of sacrifice 
 from a very early period and would therefore be called a 
 holy place. All scholars agree in thinking that the name 
 " Moriah " contains the elements of the name of God. 
 According to Hebrew tradition this was the spot where 
 Abel offered his first sacrificej»and Noah his thank- 
 offering. It is also supposed to be the place where 
 Abraham went to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, and 
 where the Lord appeared unto King David. Altogether, 
 the place would be considered sacred by Hebrew and 
 Canaanite from the earliest times, and, to-day, it is 
 regarded by Jew, Moslem, and Christian alike, as holy 
 ground. 
 
 This spot was chosen by King David himself as the 
 
 site for the Temple. But, in the four years of his reign. 
 
 King Solomon had extended and developed his kingdom 
 
 in a most wonderful way. His riches seemed unbounded 
 
 and his power and wisdom superhuman. Naturally 
 
 under such circumstances the original plans of King 
 
 David, great as no doubt they seemed to that monarch 
 
 and his advisors, would become small and insignificant 
 
 to the eye of the powerful, ambitious, and prosperous 
 
 Solomon. The chosen site, therefore, became too small 
 
 for the extended ideas. But, while the King could 
 
 enlarge his plans, he could not change the site. That 
 
 had been clearly marked out by sacred associations and, 
 
 also, by the express instructions of David, the poet-King. 
 
 There could be no changing of the site. There it was — 
 
 a rugged hill, surrounded almost entirely by great sharp 
 
 precipices. How would it be possible to build the great 
 
 Temple there, when the space was scarcely more thcui 
 
 half the area required ? It is a testimony to the resolute 
 
92 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 •character and greatness of Solomon that this difficulty 
 was met — ^not by reducing his plans, but by enlarging 
 ihe site. Huge walls were built up in the valley, out 
 from the precipices, and the intervening space was filled 
 up with earth. The labour this involved must have been 
 «normous, and can scarcely be estimated. It was not 
 only done, but it was done so thoroughly that these walls 
 still stand, a wonder to the best engineers of modem 
 times. The hill was fortified by a three-fold wall, the 
 lowest tier of which was, in some places, 300 cubits (450 
 feet) high. The size of the stones composing the walls 
 was gigantic and Josephus mentions them as 40 cubits 
 <60 feet) long, 
 
 (b) The Courts. — In 1 Kings vi. 36, we read, " He 
 built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and 
 a row of cedar beams." In 2 Chronicles iv. 9, it is said, 
 "He made the court of the priests, and the great court, 
 and doors for the court." According to Josephus (Antiq. 
 viii. 3 and 9), the enclosure of hewn stories and cedar 
 beams was three cubits (4J feet) high. 
 
 Although there is room for difference of opinion, there 
 is every probability that there were three courts. Next 
 to the walls that surrounded the Temple, there was 
 evidently a clear space outside of the great court, and 
 this is not referred to in the particulars given in King^ 
 and Chronicles, most likely because this space was not 
 considered holy ground, nor within the precincts of the 
 Temple. In this space the profane might stand, and 
 hence it may have come to be called the Court of the 
 ■Gentiles. Probably there were thus — three courts — 
 the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Children of 
 Israel, and the Court of the Priests — terraced one above 
 the other on the slope of the hill. The meagre accounts 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 95 
 
 we have do not furnish us with sufficient details on which 
 to found a general description of these. But, from what 
 we know of the other parts of the Temple, we may 
 reasonably conclude that they were rich in material and 
 beautiful in design. In the Court of the Priests stood 
 the altars of burnt-offerings, the brazen sea and the ten 
 brazen lavers. • 
 
 The altar of burnt-offerings was 20 cubits long, 20 
 cubits broad, and 10 cubits high ; and was made of 
 brass. There has been much discussion as to its con- 
 struction and form. The Law of Moses forbids going up 
 to the altar by steps (Exodus xx. 26) and the. slope to it 
 is described by Josephus as gentle. If it was so all round 
 it would take up too great a space, and hence there have 
 been many designs drawn so as to meet the difficulty^ 
 Perhaps, however, these are all wrong, for they assume, 
 so far as we have observed, a flat even surface, whereas 
 the Temple was built on the slope of the hUl. The east, 
 north and south sides of the altar, therefore, may have 
 been 10 cubits (15 feet high) and on the west, or temple 
 side, from which the priests no doubt would approach 
 the altar, it may have had a gentle ascent. 
 
 (c) The Pillars. — In the porch of the house, at the 
 entrance, there were two great pillars of brass. These 
 stood clear of the building, as ornaments or as symbols, 
 or as both. The special names (Boaz and Jachin) given 
 them imply a symbolic import, and, as the Temple was 
 of that character, we may assume that they also were so. 
 In their construction they would require wonderful skill 
 and incalculable labour. We are told in the book of 
 Kings (vii. 47) that Solomon left aU the vessels 
 imweighed, because they were exceeding many ; neither 
 was the weight of the brass found out. It is not likely. 
 
94 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 even had there been any desire to weigh the pillars, that 
 they could have been weighed. But, from their measure- 
 ments, we can calculate their weight with a fair amount 
 of accuracy. The dimensions of each pillar are equal to 
 about 233 cubic feet of brass ; the weight of which, I 
 understand, would be 53 tons. Rating this at to-day's 
 price of brass the value of each pillar would be nearly 
 £3,000. The cost, however, must have been very much 
 more from their extraordinary dimensions. Indeed, the 
 task of casting these piUars would be of such a stupendous 
 character, that their production alone would give 
 celebrity to any building with which they happened to be 
 associated. 
 
 The book of Kings describes the pillars thus : " For he 
 cast two piUars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece ; 
 and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them 
 about. And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to 
 set upon the tops of the pillars : the height of the one 
 chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other 
 chapiter was five cubits : And nets of checker-work, and 
 wreaths of chain-work, for the chapiters which were upon 
 the top of the pillars ; seven for the one chapiter and 
 seven for the other chapiter. And he made the piUars, 
 and two rows round about upon the one net-work, 
 to cover the chapiters that were upon the top with 
 pomegranates ; and so did he for the other chapiter. 
 And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars 
 were of lily-work in the porch, four cubits. And 
 the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates 
 also above, over against the belly which was by the 
 net-work : and the pomegranates were two hundred, 
 in rows round about upon the other chapiter. And 
 he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple : and 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 95 
 
 he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof 
 Jachin ; and he set up the left pillar, and called the name 
 thereof Boaz. And upon the top of the pillars was 
 lily-work : so was the work of the pillars finished." 
 
 The book of Chronicles describes the pillars thus : "Also 
 he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five 
 cubits high, and the chapiter tha1*was on the top of each 
 of them was five cubits. And he made chains, as in the 
 oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars ; and made 
 an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. 
 And he reared up the pillars before the Temple, one on 
 the right hand, and the other on the left ; and called the 
 name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of 
 that on the left Boaz. . . . And Huram finished the work 
 that he was to make for King Solomon for the house of 
 <iod ; To wit, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the 
 chapiters which were on the top of the two pillars, and the 
 two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the chapiters 
 which were on the top of the pillars ; And four hundred 
 pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of pome- 
 granates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of 
 the chapiters which were upon the pillars." 
 
 While these descriptions, like a lawyer's document, are 
 to all appearance very precise in detail, they are rather 
 confusing and, particularly with regard to the height of 
 the pillars, they seem conflicting. In Kings the height 
 is given as 18 cubits, in Chronicles as 35 cubits. In the 
 one case, however, it clearly says "18 cubits high apiece " 
 and in the other — " two pillars of thirty and five cubits 
 high." The writer of Chronicles here gives the combined 
 height of the two pillars and this is corroborated by the 
 latter part of the sentence where he says, " and the 
 chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five 
 
96 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 cubits." That this was the case will be seen if we take 
 into account the disproportion of the height of 35 cubits 
 to the circumference of 12 cubits to the size of the 
 building generally, and, particularly, to that of the 
 sanctuary which was 30 cubits high, and to the symbolic 
 import of the pillars as shown in their names — Jachin 
 meaning Jah — Jehovah ; Achin — to establish. Boaz 
 meaning B — in and Oaz — strength. The height of 35 
 cubits to a diameter of 4 cubits would give no idea of 
 strength and stability, and there seems no other reason- 
 able explanation of the difference in the two descriptions 
 than that just mentioned. But, as 17J and not 18 is the 
 half of 35 how can we account for the missing half cubit ? 
 This, very likely, was taken up by the sockets necessary 
 for joining the pillar to its base, and to its chapiter on the 
 top. It seems to us that the writer of the Chronicles 
 gives the size of the two pillars as they stand upright, and 
 the writer of Kings gives that of each pillar, including 
 the sockets, on the horizontal. In this view each pillar 
 was sunk into its base, say a quarter of a cubit, and rose 
 into its chapiter with another grip of a quarter cubit. It 
 will be seen that in Chronicles there is a word used which 
 does not appear in Kings, viz., that of " pommel." It 
 reads, " to wit, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the 
 chapiters that were on the top of the two pillars." 
 From this we would infer that there were three distinct 
 things, viz., pillars, pommels, and chapiters. This is not 
 contradictory to the description given in Kings for there 
 we read that " the chapiters that were upon the top of 
 the pillars were of lily-work in the porch, four cubits. And 
 the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates 
 also above, over against the belly which was by the net-work." 
 Now, the chapiters were five cubits, and if four cubits 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 97 
 
 were taken up with the lily-work it is evident, from 
 the above, that the other cubit was what the writer 
 of Chronicles calls the pommel, and was occupied with 
 the net-work and pomegranate-work. In this reading 
 of the description given we have before us a pillar 
 somewhat consistent with what we know to have existed 
 in the time of King Solomon i%Syria and Egypt. The 
 monstrosities, representing these pillars, which meet the 
 eye on the trestleboards of some lodges are anything but 
 complimentary either to the genius and skill of Huram, 
 or to the good taste and intelligence of the masters who 
 tolerate such outrageous caricatures. Before leaving this 
 rather fascinating topic, we would point out that the 
 positions of the two pillars are worthy of special note. 
 Many writers in looking at the descriptions of the Temple 
 have imagined that the right side meant the right hand 
 of the spectator. This is a mistake that has led to not a 
 few misconceptions ; and, amongst others, the placing 
 of the pillar Boaz on the south, and Jachin on the north 
 side of the Temple. The description in one part (1 Kings 
 vi. 8) says " The door for the middle chamber was in the 
 right side of the house," and with reference to the pillars 
 (1 Kings vii. 21) "And he set up the right pillar, and called 
 the name thereof Jachin, and he set up the left pillar, and 
 called the name thereof Boaz." Now, the writer here 
 says regarding the door for the middle chamber that it 
 was " in the right side of the house," and we can scarcely 
 imagine that a few verses further on, when writing of 
 the pillars, he would mean anything else than the side 
 of the house when he uses the words right and left. As 
 the Temple faced the east, therefore, the right side of the 
 house would be the south wall, and the left side, the 
 north wall ; and the pillar Boaz would stand in the north- 
 
 H 
 
98 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 east corner of the porch of the house, Jachin in the south- 
 east corner, and the winding stair, leading to the middle 
 chamber, would be on the south side of the house. 
 
 (d) The House. — The Temple itself, or House, was 
 built on the ridge of the hill above the courts on the west 
 side, and was approached from the Court of the Priests 
 by a flight of twelve steps. The book of Kings says it 
 was 60 cubits long, 20 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high. 
 The book of Chronicles has it, 60 cubits long, 20 cubits 
 broad, and 120 cubits high. Josephus describes it as 
 60 cubits long, 20 cubits broad, and 60 cubits high, and, 
 above this, another stage of equal height. The differences 
 here noted in the height arises evidently from the writer 
 in the Book of Kings referring to the height of the 
 Sanctuary, which was 30 cubits, while Chronicles and 
 Josephus refer to the height of the porch. The building 
 was divided into Porch, Sanctuary, and Holy of Holies. 
 The Porch was the breadth of the house in length, viz., 
 20 cubits, and was 10 cubits in breadth and 120 cubits 
 high. The Sanctuary was 40 cubits long, 20 cubits 
 broad, and 30 cubits high, and the Holy of Holies was 20 
 cubits every way, being a perfect cube. The Sanctuary 
 was surrounded by three stories of chambers or corridors, 
 each 5 cubits high reaching to half the height of the 
 Sanctuary, and leaving room for the lights or windows 
 therein. The lowest story of these corridors is described 
 as 5 cubits broad, the second as 6 cubits, and the third as 
 7 cubits. This arose from the narrowed rests, or ledges, 
 in the walls for the beams, as referred to in 1 Kings vi. 6. 
 The walls were thus stepped and were 2 cubits less in 
 thickness at the top than at the bottom. The opinion 
 that these middle and upper chambers or corridors, 
 formed a gallery for the Sanctuary seems not at all 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 99 
 
 inconsistent with the descriptions given and the general 
 construction of the House. 
 
 In the Sanctuary were the ten golden candlesticks and 
 the altar of incense and also, probably, various utensils 
 used in the sacrifices and worship at the Temple. At its 
 entrance there hung a veil of many colours, said by 
 Josephus to mystically represent the material creation. 
 Its walls, doors, floors, and ceilings were all covered over 
 ■with fine gold. 
 
 The Holy of Holies occupied the west end of the 
 building and was separated from the Sanctuary by doors 
 of olive, ornamented with coloured curtains. It contained 
 only the Ark of the Covenant with the winged cherubim, 
 and all its work was richly carved and covered with fine 
 gold. It had no windows and was in utter darkness, 
 which accords with the words of Solomon, " The Lord 
 said that he would dwell in the thick darkness " (see 
 I Kings viii. 12, and 2 Chronicles vi. 1). 
 
 (e) The Distinguishing Feature. — The Temple of King 
 Solomon cannot be compared in size with many ancient 
 temples, but, in the costly nature of its material and the 
 skill that constructed and adorned it, in its unique 
 situation and its sacred associations, it was probably 
 the most wonderful structure that has ever been raised 
 by the hand of man. From all other temples it had the 
 contra-distinguishing feature of having its entrance 
 placed in the east. Other temples were earth-wise in 
 their travel. Their entrance was in the west, and within 
 them you travelled forward, like the earth, from west 
 to east. But, in the Temple of the Most High, the travel 
 is Heaven-wise, from east to west, for therein men do not 
 assemble. It is sacred as Heaven, and mortals kneel and 
 worship outside of it, in the courts of earth. It is the 
 
100 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 dwelling place, the House of Jehovah, and He moves 
 with the sun, moon, and all the hosts of Heaven, from 
 east to west, to shower down the beams of His glory^ 
 that life and joy may come to the sons of men. 
 
 " The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth be 
 silent before Him." 
 
 (3) The Ideal Temple. 
 
 Let us consider this part of our subject under the 
 following aspects : — 
 
 (a) What is the Ideal Temple ? 
 
 (b) The Need for the Ideal Temple. 
 
 (c) The Building of the Ideal Temple. 
 
 (a) What is the Ideal Temple ? — ^The primary meaning 
 of the word " Temple " is " a space cut off " or " marked 
 cut." In common modern use it means a building 
 that has been, or is, dedicated for sacred purposes. 
 It is often misused, and particularly by the Masonic 
 fraternity. A vulgar and blatant spirit of ostentation 
 has been predominant recently here and elsewhere, 
 particularly in the United States, so that every little 
 bothy of a building is magnified and distinguished 
 by the name of Temple and, consequently, the true 
 meaning and significance of the word is apt to be lost. 
 The degradation and corruption of language in this way 
 should not only be deplored and condemned, but, 
 wherever possible, sternly suppressed. A Temple is 
 something separated from ordinary human life — some- 
 thing sacred and divine. The shell of stone, however 
 ably designed and beautified, does not make a Temple. 
 It is the spirit that dwells in it. Now, the Ideal Temple 
 is that wherein the Divine Spirit dwells. Like the Temple 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 101 
 
 of King Solomon it is dedicated and consecrated to The 
 Most High, but it is not of stone and timber, however 
 precious and however richly embellished ; it is of 
 substance more substantial, it is spiritual and more 
 real ; it is the human soul and is therefore immortal. 
 The building of this Temple is at once the inspiration, 
 the justification, and the consummation of masonry. 
 It is the Alpha and the Omega, the foundation and the 
 pinnacle of all masonic organisation. The lodge only is, 
 that the Temple may be. The ceremonies and symbols 
 of the Craft are but the tools, appliances, and scaffolding 
 for the building of the Great Ideal Temple. Any aim less 
 than this would be a real degradation. There are many 
 members who prate glibly about its social and benevolent 
 aspects and who think its ideal is a convivial meeting 
 and a charity-box, and the mass really know little, and 
 think less, about it. There are a few, fortunately an 
 increasing number, who have a conception, more or less 
 clear, of the Ideal Temple as the chief end of all Masonic 
 endeavour. This Temple is the S3mibol of that Peace 
 and Unity in human society attainable by the repression 
 of the Brute, and the expression of the Divine in man. 
 
 There are a niumber of writers who join with Maeter- 
 linck in Praise of the Sword. They extol war and its 
 results, and bless the exercise of brute force. The arbit- 
 rament of the duel is held to be a " right dearest to man's 
 instinct," and the qualities of primitive man are put 
 forward as the noblest virtues. All this seems to run 
 right ageiinst nature. Primitive man was an animal, 
 perhaps a cruel, cunning beast, and was but our 
 beginning. The arguments put forward by those writers 
 in favour of war and strife, would be equally valid for 
 cannabalism. War and strife may call forth virtues but 
 
102 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 they do not create them. They are there, independent of 
 war and in spite of it. Are we to praise the slum, with 
 all its degrading sin and misery, because it calls into 
 exercise the virtues of benevolence and self-sacrifice ? 
 Is sin to be worshipped because it has called forth the 
 mercy of God to sinners ? The course of natural evolution 
 is ever towards higher qualities and, in the long run. 
 Reason will prevail over brute Instinct ; Justice and 
 Mercy will supplant Selfishness, and Love will triumph 
 over Hate. The Most High will make His dwellingplace in 
 man and, when the Temple of Human Brotherhood has 
 been built, the Divine Incarnation shall be fully 
 accomplished. The idea of uniting Humanity into a 
 great structure, a Temple of Peace, is grand ; the 
 building of it into a dwelling place for The Most High, is 
 sublime. 
 
 (b) The Need for the Ideal Temple. — In human society 
 the natural desire for the comforts and independence 
 which wealth affords has been developed into a fierce 
 feverish passion. " Make money " is the gospel preached 
 and acted on too often in daily Ufe. " Mind number 
 one " is the favourite maxim. The result is, that wealth 
 has become supreme and things have lost their moral 
 perspective. State honours are often bought, and seldom 
 earned. For many things, the quaUfication is not the 
 fitness of the man, but the property he owns. Might and 
 not Right is the dominant factor nearly everywhere. 
 Virtue and truth receive scant courtesy in many circles,, 
 while Rank, Power, and Wealth are worshipped eagerly. 
 The material law of supply and demand is paramount. 
 The Golden Rule of the Square is ignored. Knavery, 
 treachery, and vice ofttimes murder Honesty and Purity. 
 Laws are heaped on laws, in the Statute Books, until in 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 103 
 
 their intricate windings simple honesty gets lost and 
 vile ctinning triumphs. Millions of men are kept grinding 
 away their lives to make and maintain vast armaments, 
 whose purpose is destruction and death. Yet, notwith- 
 standing all this, the twentieth century is said to be the 
 most practical, and also the greatest that has ever 
 existed. " The glory that was Greece and the grandeur 
 that was Rome " pale before its triumphs. As we trace 
 the rise and fall of the civilisations of the past we say 
 " ours will not so decline." We proudly look at our 
 wealth and productive power, at our steam and electric 
 inventions, at our science, our literature, our universal 
 education, and our world-wide commerce ; and we can 
 scarcely imagine that this vigorous, pulsating, bustling 
 world has the seeds of decay in its system, and the doom 
 of death hanging over it. Yet the signs of deadly disease 
 are there. As from beneath some of earth's fairest 
 regions there is heard, from time to time, portentous 
 sounds and, occasionally, a sudden shock shivers cities 
 into ruin ; so, now and again, are we startled with the 
 evidence of destructive forces underlying all the fair 
 surface of modem society. Our civilisation is to a great 
 extent veneer, for our power is applied to supply the 
 lower, more than the higher part of human nature. 
 Contrast a company of cultured men with a company of 
 savages taking food. Mark how the cultured assist each 
 other, and thereby promote their common good and 
 happiness; while on the other hand, the savages scramble, 
 jostle, and wound each other, and destroy much of the 
 desired object. Now, in regard to wealth, we are yet 
 mere savages, and our civilisation is but skin deep. That 
 point on which we so pride ourselves — in being practical — 
 is, in reality, the greatest sham of the centiury. We are 
 
104 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 no more practical than savages scrambling round a dead 
 buffalo. We do not pull together, but against each other, 
 and thus there is an enormous waste. Look at our 
 immense pauper roU, our innumerable poor-houses and 
 prisons ; our armies of soldiers, policemen, and judges ; 
 and you have the plain evidence of the fact that we 
 scramble for wealth like savages. Take these highly 
 civilised islands of Britain, and see what we work for and 
 pay for, year by year. Our Imperial Expenditure shows 
 64 per cent, on War, 10 per cent, on Education, 7 per 
 cent, on Old Age Pensions, and 29 per cent, on Civil and 
 Postal Services, and the Total runs to over 181 Millions. 
 Of our Expenditure all over, as a people, we apparently 
 pay 4 per cent, for Spiritual, 6 per cent, for Mental 
 Education, and 90 per cent, for animal comforts and 
 savage propensities. Labour by sub-division has become 
 intensely monotonous and all interest in the product has 
 been killed in the mind of the workman. He has become 
 dull and dormant and nature takes its revenge in a rush 
 to the excitement of the music-hall, the picture-house, or 
 the football match. The price of our wealth seems to be 
 the physical, mental, and moral deterioration of a large 
 proportion of the people. This so-called practical age 
 panders so much to our lower nature, and so stints and 
 starves the higher, that beneath our apparent order and 
 prosperity we really have the elements of an earthquake. 
 Bank failures and society frauds, labour unrest and 
 strikes, outrages and assassinations, occasionally startle 
 us ; and the thousandfold crimes that fill the columns of 
 our daily newspapers give constant evidence of the 
 dangerous conditions that surroimd us. Notwithstanding 
 our boasted civilisation the old savage ties of Instinct, 
 Interest, and Force are those which still unite us. By 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 105 
 
 Instinct we flock together, move in masses and coalesce 
 into sects or parties. This union is consolidated and 
 maintained by Interest and by Force. The interest to 
 maintain a certain order of things rules the actions of all 
 classes, and, although it is happily becoming more and 
 more objectionable. Force is stiU used to maintain, or to 
 advance, those interests. Each nation, wherever it finds 
 itself dominant, enforces its own selfish views, and it is 
 too often the practice for monarchs and statesmen to 
 subvert the interests of humanity for those of a dynasty, 
 and to sacrifice Truth and Justice for what they call the 
 Balance of Power. At present in human society there 
 is moral chaos. The Law of the Square is not observed 
 and there is no true bond of union. The stones are held 
 together accidentally. Square stones and boulders are 
 heaped and thrown together indiscriminately. So long 
 as self is served we are united, but the moment our 
 interests clash, off we fly. 
 
 Such is a view, we hope not an exaggerated view, of the 
 present age. It is, no doubt, better than any of its 
 predecessors on the whole, but every one will admit it is 
 far from being what it might be. The Mission of Masonry 
 is to substitute the insecure bonds of Instinct, Selfish 
 Interest, and Force, by those of Reason, Justice, and 
 Love. 
 
 (c) The Building of the Ideal Temple. — ^To be strong 
 and stable a building must have a good foundation. The 
 higher the pinnacle desired, the deeper the foundation 
 required. As the Temple at Jerusalem was founded deep 
 down on a rock, so must our Ideal Temple be founded. 
 We cannot be lowly enough in our foundation. Strong 
 character rests on deep humility. Haughtiness and self- 
 righteousness are foundations of ice. Man cannot rest 
 
106 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 on his own power. How can weakness fortify itself with 
 itself ? The fulcrum of the lever, by which we can raise 
 ourselves, must be outside of ourselves. The operative 
 lays his foundation in firm reliance on the constancy of 
 natural law, and experience and knowledge justify this 
 reliance. So the foundations of our Temple have to be 
 laid on the rock of Faith — ^Faith in a power greater than 
 our own and able to ensure the ultimate triumph of 
 Truth and Righteousness. The experience of the good 
 and true in every age illustrates this Faith. Without it 
 the toil and sacrifice necessary for building can neither 
 be endured nor justified. Faith in spiritual law is as 
 rational as that in natural law. In both spheres, the 
 ultimate real power behind the law is the same, and the 
 true test is experience. On Faith, all that is noble and 
 heroic in human history has been based. 
 
 This Foundation of Faith, laid deep down in our souls, 
 is not a visible part of the building. But on it rises the 
 walls of visible action. On it rests the strength of the 
 uprightness that forms the beauty of the Temple. Faith 
 is as necessary to uprightness of character as a foundation 
 is for an upright wall. But in daily life our perspective 
 is sadly aglee. We confound prominence with importance, 
 and look on the plinth as being more important than the 
 foundation. Small things are magnified by their nearness, 
 and we blot out heaven and earth with our little finger. 
 There have been nobler deeds done than those sung of by 
 the bards. There have been greater heroes than those 
 blazoned in history. Up on a moorland, where the 
 occasional cry of the wild partridge and the whistling of 
 the wind are the only sounds that greet the ear, where 
 hill on hill rise stately and solemn as a Hebrew Psalm, 
 there are little cairns to which the few passers by add 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 107 
 
 a stone. These mark the spots where humble unknown 
 men, face to face with death or the abjuration oath, 
 chose rather to die than violate their conscience. 
 History names them not and our bustling world knows 
 nought of them. Yet, how immeasurably greater are 
 those than many whom, with tinsel show and blazing 
 trumpet, the world applauds. T)ur newspapers devote 
 long columns to a horse race, a football match, or a 
 prize fight. Their reporters, like sleuth-hounds, rush over 
 sea and land for details of a sordid crime or a vicious 
 scandal, yet how rarely do they mark the self-sacrifice 
 and heroism at their very doors. Yet these nameless 
 ones know that they live not, nor sacrifice, in vain. They 
 are building the Eternal Temple and every good deed is 
 a stone everlasting. Newspaper notoriety is as the 
 buzzing of a passing fly. There are records eternal as our 
 souls. There is not a good thought, nor word, nor deed, 
 but is registered on the imperishable tablets of Heaven, 
 and built into the eternal walls of the Temple. It is on 
 this Faith in the invincibility and eternity of the good 
 and true that a life of truth and uprightness can be 
 supported and sustained. Without it we cannot build, 
 nor rise upwards. 
 
 In building our Temple we must work to a Plan. 
 Good material may be selected but, unless built to 
 a plan, it is not useful. Good thoughts and feelings, 
 unless put into ordered action, become paving stones 
 for the road to Gehenna, and not Ashlars for the 
 Temple in Zion. Well meaning, good men are not un- 
 common, but how seldom effective. Their minds are a 
 heap of fine stones that require to be built together to a 
 plan, if they are to be of use either in this world or the 
 next. Goodness has to be kept in line and arranged in 
 
108 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS MISSION 
 
 symmetrical proportion to become righteousness. Dirt 
 is matter out of place and virtue trespassing becomes 
 vice. Like melodious notes, good thoughts have to be 
 proportioned to become harmony. As George Herbert 
 wrote of the body, so of the Spirit : — 
 
 " Man is all symmetry. 
 Full of proportion, one limb to another 
 
 And all to all the world besides : 
 Each part may call the farthest brother. 
 
 For head and foot have private amity. 
 And both, with moons and tides." 
 
 Symmetry of soul is to be gained by looking to the 
 Ideal Plan and earnestly trying to work to it. In doing 
 this, the Almighty Force that makes for righteousness 
 will work with you. If you will to do His will, symmetry 
 will be gained by the subjugation of every thought and 
 impulse to the Ideal Plan. All our thoughts and desires, 
 however good in themselves, must be subordinated by 
 the Will and dedicated to the purpose of an ordered Plan. 
 Otherwise, our " ologies " and " activities " are apt to 
 become our coffins. The scientist may get as much 
 bottled-up as any of his specimens. The clerg5mian's 
 falsetto — ^his supposed religious tone — may develop a 
 sore throat for his body and a swaddling-band for his 
 soul. The merchant's and banker's eternal interest may 
 get hide-bound in their ledgers. The politician's soul 
 may be lost in a programme, and a party platform may 
 become the narrow horizon of his being. All thought and 
 feeling must be subservient to the Ideal Plan. We must 
 build our eternal habitation into some shape or other. 
 Is it to be a prison or a Temple ? Every thought and act 
 is a stone and every stone is memorial. Our building thus 
 becomes the real form of our souls. Which is the greater 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 10& 
 
 good, to build a St. Patil's, or to build a life into an Ideal 
 Temple ? To accomplish this, our will must dominate. 
 Order and discipline, self-control, and self-denial, are 
 essential to good work. Every faculty, memory, 
 imagination, intellect, and emotion must be brought into 
 obedience to the Master- Will of our being, and that must 
 direct all to work out, in life and»action, the Plan or Will 
 of The Great Architect. 
 
 It is in action we prove the genuineness of our faith. 
 We prove the Law of the Square by building to the 
 square, and we prove the freedom of our WUl by choosing 
 and determining to work in obedience to the Plan. The 
 very pressure of hostile, or apparently hostile forces, we 
 may turn to our purpose by obedience to the higher law ; 
 and, through that action realise that we really belong to 
 the higher plane of life. The sailor makes the adverse 
 wind Ccirry him to his haven. The builder uses 
 gravitation — that inexorable tearer down of everything 
 aspiring — to be his blind slave and the supporter of his 
 work. As we triumph over wind, tide, and gravitation 
 by working in obedience to higher laws, so do we triumph 
 over our lower nature by the exercise of our higher. 
 Exercise means development. The process of building 
 the Ideal Temple goes on by our Master- Will constantly 
 calling on the higher powers of our being to active work. 
 
 The work of building the Ideal Temple never ceases, 
 and is never completed. It is progressive, realising, yet 
 never realised. Material things complete themselves on 
 a Leuel circle. They have their beginning and their 
 ending, birth and death, morning and evening, foundation 
 and copestone. But the spiritual ever rises on a Plumb- 
 spiral, never resting, ever aspiring and growing upwards 
 into the infinite Heavens. As Coleridge said, " All things 
 
110 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 strive to ascend and ascend by their striving." Emerson 
 has said, " Nature is not fixed but fluid. Spirit alters, 
 moulds, makes it. The immobility or bruteness of nature 
 is the absence of spirit ; to pure spirit, it is fluid, it is 
 volatile, it is obedient. Every spirit builds itself a house, 
 and beyond its house, a world ; and beyond its world a 
 heaven. Know then, that the world exists for you. For 
 you is the phenomenon perfect. What we are, that only 
 can we see. All that Adam had, all that Caesar could, 
 you have and can do. Adam called his house, heaven and 
 «arth ; Caesar called his house, Rome ; you perhaps 
 call yours, a cobbler's trade, a hundred acres of ploughed 
 land ; or a scholar's garret. Yet line for Une and point 
 for point, your dominion is as great as theirs, though 
 without fine names. Build, therefore, your own world. 
 As fast as you conform your life to the pure idea in your 
 mind, that will unfold its great proportions. A corres- 
 pondent revolution in things will attend the influx of 
 the spirit. As when the summer comes from the south, 
 the snow-banks melt and the face of the earth becomes 
 green before it, so shall the advancing spirit create its 
 ornaments along its path and carry with it the beauty 
 it visits and the song which enchants it ; it shall draw 
 beautiful faces, warm hearts, wise discomrse, and heroic 
 acts, around its way, until evil is no more seen." 
 
 The process of building a great edifice consists in 
 working the rough rock into perfect ashlars and uniting 
 or massing them together " on the square," according 
 to the plsm of the architect. Each unit has to be prepared 
 for a place and has to possess all the qualities necessary 
 for its place. It is the aggregation of these units that 
 makes the structure, and to make a perfect whole each 
 unit must be complete and perfect as such. According 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 111 
 
 "to masonic tradition, at the Temple of Jerusalem each 
 stone was tried, and none was passed on to the building 
 unless it was sound and true to the plan. When passed, 
 besides the marks of the individual craftsman and of 
 juxta-position, it had, also, the mark of approval, 
 without which it would not be received at the Temple. 
 This latter mark was an Equilateral Triangle, held gene- 
 rally in the ancient east as the symbol of the Deity. It was 
 only put on material that had been carefully inspected and 
 found to be sound and according to the plan, and was 
 therefore considered to be the Divine mark of approval. 
 
 The Equilateral Triangle, with the jod or ray of light 
 within it, was the unpronounceable name of God. In 
 Scripture we find repeated references to the Temple 
 connected with the Name of God. We find, " But unto 
 the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of 
 all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his 
 habitation, etc. " (Deut. xii. 5). " If the place which the 
 Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there, etc. " 
 (v. 21). " The city which the Lord did choose, out of all 
 the tri^jes of Israel, to put His name there " (1 Kings 
 xiv. 21). " God that hath caused His name to dwell 
 there " (Ezra vi. 12). " He shall build an house for 
 wy name " (2 Samuel vii. 13). " The Lord spake unto 
 David my father saying. Thy son whom I will set upon 
 thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house that 
 wyname" (1 Kings v. 5). These and similar expres- 
 tions you will find, again and again, in the Scripture 
 references to the Temple. At its dedication King 
 Solomon in his prayer said " That thine eyes may be 
 open toward this house night and day, even toward 
 the place of which thou hast said : My name shall be 
 there." The masonic tradition is that the name of God 
 
112 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 was there in the middle chamber, in the symbol of the 
 Equilateral Triangle ; and also there, carved on every 
 beam and stone that formed the Temple. 
 
 The Ideal Temple of Humanity, like that of King 
 Solomon, has to be built of stones true and tried and 
 having the mark of Divine approval — that equilibrium 
 of soul and conscience that results from being true to the 
 Divine Centre of All. Society is based on individuality. 
 It implies, like Harmony in Music, separate and distinct 
 units, possessed of certain qualities, the blending together 
 of which will constitute concord and happiness, or discord 
 and strife. The stones in a building are arranged into 
 such proportions and form by the architect that 
 symmetry and beauty, or deformity and ugliness, result. 
 In both cases, it is the master-mind that composes and 
 designs. The very root of the words " unit " and 
 " unite " is the same, and the one exists for the other. 
 The universcil law of all harmony and beauty is variety 
 and diversity. There can be no harmony where every 
 note is the same. There can be no beauty where every 
 line runs alike. Nature has been ever busy drumming 
 this truth into our ears and painting it before our eyes ; 
 yet here we are, in this enlightened twentieth century 
 trying to force every human being into one cast-metal 
 mould, and madly hammering every one who resists. 
 In our schools and universities, churches and societies, 
 the prevalent idea is to shape men all after one pattern. 
 Consequently our human products are miserably poor, 
 and originality, as a happy factor in hiunan thought, is 
 not conspicuous. The Grand Architect, who has planned 
 the Ideal Temple, has other notions. He wants infinite 
 variety and diversity of stones to work out His Ideal. 
 Many things to which we would give " the heave over " 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 113 
 
 as the work of folly, many things which we would call 
 sin, will be there made subservient to the glory, and 
 blended into the beauty of His Eternal Temple. 
 
 Prominently visible, in our ceremonies and symbols, 
 is the truth that the improvement of the race is only 
 possible through the perfecting of the individucd. In this, 
 masonry differs from most modirn societies which look 
 more to the social or political triimiph of a special tenet 
 than to the development of humanity. It teaches 
 constantly self-effort and individual action. You are to 
 produce work for the building, you are to climb up the 
 stairs before you can receive your reward. The stones 
 must be sound and square, that the building may be 
 strong and enduring. At every step new duties are 
 imposed, and fresh calls made for exertion ; all on the 
 principle, implied when not expressed, that if the com- 
 munity is to be happy and prosperous, its units must be 
 good and worthy. 
 
 This teaching agrees with sound reason and the 
 experience of history. The evils of humanity are not to 
 be cured by public parades, by social crusades, by royal 
 mandates, nor by acts of parliament, — although all 
 these, in many ways, may be both useful and necessary. 
 We may plaster the land from end to end with statutes 
 and edicts ; we may plant police and law-courts at every 
 door, but what do these avail when the cause of our 
 misery lies within ourselves ? It is more in the enlarge- 
 ment of our moral capacities as men, than in the widening 
 of our privileges as citizens, precious as these undoubtedly 
 are, that the remedy really lies. It is more in the limi- 
 tation than in the gratification of our desires, that our 
 happiness can be best promoted, and permanently 
 maintained. 
 
114 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS MISSION 
 
 To fit and prepare ourselves as stones in the Ideal 
 Temple, we have to forget ourselves in serving others. 
 Paradoxical as it seems, we reaUy cannot help ourselves 
 except by helping our neighbour. In doing, we realise 
 our being. We exist to do, and by doing we exist, 
 physically, mentally, and spiritually. In moulding, 
 shaping, and building we obey the highest law of our 
 being, and from this work spring growth and development. 
 Thus, in building at the Temple, we build ourselves into 
 a Temple, dedicated and consecrated by that work for 
 evermore. 
 
 In operative masonry there is what is technically 
 known as " the bond." A stone is placed above the joint 
 of every two stones, in the course below. It clasps and 
 embraces them and holds them together. In its turn, it 
 is clasped and embraced by others, and thus forms a 
 bond of union and strength. But while the stones are 
 thus placed, they can only influence each other by the 
 central force of gravitation. Without this natural force 
 they would fall away from each other, and it is only 
 when true to this law that they form a true bond. And 
 so, in the Ideal Temple, the bond of brotherhood in all 
 its strength and stability, lies in each unit being true to 
 the Great Centre of All ; for the true love of Humanity 
 must ever spring from the Love of God. In human 
 society the union, here referred to, gives strength, not 
 merely by numerical addition, like sticks in a bundle, 
 or like horses in a team, but because it creates a new 
 force and awakens the moral elements in Humanity. 
 The quaHty of creating an atmosphere belongs to matter 
 only when in mass. Hmnan society also creates its own 
 atmosphere. Isolated, man withers and droops. His 
 efforts are feeble ; his action is languid. In union, in 
 
THE TEMPLE, OR CONSUMMATION OF THE MISSION 115 
 
 ■companionship, in brotherhood, he develops and enlarges 
 his being and his power. His heart kindles with 
 ■enthusiasm, his mind brightens with thought, and 
 progress and civilisation result. When alone — 
 
 " Life is as tedious as a twice told tale 
 Vexing the ear of a drowsy man." 
 
 In the union of brotherhood, he is radiant "as a bride- 
 groom coming out of his chamber," and rejoicing " as a 
 strong m£in to run a race." 
 
 This power of sympathy, we are just discovering to 
 be immense in nature. Pulsations at the rate of 600 a 
 second can be stopped by material obstructions. But 
 there are pulsations, at the rate of 250 millions a second, 
 that are propagated through Ether and, therefore, 
 through all substances. This is the basis of wireless 
 telegraphy, that pierces moimtains and penetrates oceans. 
 We are but beginning to understand this power, and in 
 the future, no doubt, it will be greatly developed. And 
 if this be true of sympathy in the material world, it is 
 more so in the moral. We are more akin by spirit than 
 by flesh, and in the building of the Ideal Temple the 
 power of sympathy will manifest itself. Abroad, over 
 the globe, the lovers of human brotherhood and peace 
 are doubtless many, but they are not yet in touch with 
 each other. The pulsations do not manifest themselves, 
 because the instruments are not yet tuned to a common 
 responsive key. It is not the want of a love of humanity, 
 so much as the want of an understanding himian 
 S5mipathy, that hinders the work. Yet, gradually, as 
 we work at our part of the great structure, we are 
 becoming conscious that there are fellow workers here 
 and elsewhere, and, through the dividing barriers of seas 
 
116 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS MISSION 
 
 and mountains, of space and of time, we are beginning 
 feebly to spell out far spoken messages of sympathy, t» 
 feel that the Universe is really one harmonious whole, and 
 that all things work together for truth and righteousness. 
 We read that at the building of the Temple at 
 Jerusalem " there was neither hammer nor ax, nor any 
 tool of iron heard in the house while it was building." 
 Like the silent Light, or still Gravitation, doing their 
 mighty work through the Universe, so was the work^of 
 the Temple done. 
 
 " No hammers fell nor ponderous axes rung, 
 Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung." 
 
 The silent forces of the Universe are the greatest. The 
 wild rage of the volcano may be more striking, but the 
 calm power of gravitation is the most prevailing. It is 
 not by the thunders of artillery nor the shock of battle ; 
 it is not by the wild lust for gold, nor by the land-hunger 
 of the nations ; it is not by trade, nor by parliaments, nor 
 yet by schools and universities ; it is by the silent, 
 beneficent forces of Love and Light that the mighty work 
 of man's spiritual evolution can be accomplished. It is 
 by these alone that the grand Plan of the Divine 
 Architect can be wrought out, and although at present, 
 we see not the proportions of the building at which we 
 work, some day the debris and the scaffolding wiU 
 disappear, and the Temple of Human Brotherhood and 
 Peace wiU stand revealed in aU its vast grandeur and 
 beauty — the Temple in which all the nations of the earth 
 will dwell together in vmity, then, 
 
 " Shall all men's good 
 Be each man's rule and universal peace 
 Lie, like a shaft of Ught, across the land." 
 
SPECULATIVE MASONRY 
 PART II.— ITS EVOLUTION 
 
" The hand that rounded Peter's Dome 
 And groined the aisles of Christian Rome, 
 Wrought in a sad sincerity ; 
 Himself from God he could not free : 
 He builded better than he knew — 
 The conscious stone to beauty grew. 
 
 These Temples grew as grows the grass. 
 Art might obey, but not surpass — 
 The passive Master lent his hand 
 To the vast Soul that o'er him planned." 
 
 — Emerson.. 
 
 ' Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul ! 
 As the swift seasons roll 
 Leave thy low vaulted past : 
 Let each new temple, nobler than the last 
 Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast. 
 Till thou at length art free 
 
 Leaving thine out-grown shell by life's unresting sea." 
 
 — O. W. Holmes. 
 
PART II.— ITS EVOLUTION. 
 
 r 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ORIGINS ASCRIBED TO MASONRY. 
 
 (1) The Historical Difficulties. 
 
 In no branch of history is care and judgment more 
 needful than in that of masonry. Nowhere else will you 
 find such a collection of mendacious tales, such outrages 
 on truth eind common sense, as in the so-called histories 
 of Anderson, Preston, Oliver, Laurie, and some other 
 writers. These publications have created contempt in 
 the minds of non-mason critics, not only for the authors 
 but also for masonry itself, and, no doubt, this is the 
 reason why historians generally neglect the masonic field. 
 Within the Order, unfortunately, these histories, until 
 recently, were accepted as real by the bulk of its members. 
 The bald and bold assertions and unverified claims that 
 crowd their pages were received as gospel ; and, as usual 
 with such unreasoned beliefs, they developed fanatical 
 bigotry. To cast a doubt on their absolute truthfulness 
 was anathema. This blind creduUty created a natural 
 reaction of scepticism and unbelief in the minds of many 
 intelligent members. The beautiful symbolism and noble 
 principles of masonry were dragged into the gutter by 
 these false historic pretensions, and its ceremonies were 
 made to appear as a sham and make-believe comedy. 
 
120 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 But in recent years a new school of masonic historians 
 has arisen. Hughan, Murray-Lyon, Gould, Woodford, 
 and others, in Britain ; Findel and Fallow, in Germany ; 
 and Fort and Mackey, in America, have placed masonic 
 history on a sounder basis. Years of patient labour have 
 been spent by these writers in discovering and de- 
 ciphering old records and manuscripts belonging to, or 
 referring to, the Order ; and, although the field in 
 many directions still remains unexplored and unmapped, 
 a permanent roadway for a considerable distance has 
 been well made, and on this the future student will, no 
 doubt, proceed with confidence, and use, as a base, for 
 further exploration. 
 
 (2) Some of the Theories Advanced. 
 
 Many origins have been ascribed to masonry, from the 
 Devil to the Druids, and its name has been said to have 
 been derived from almost every language on the globe. 
 In India the mason-hall, or lodge, is known as the 
 " Shaitan Bimgalow " — the Devil's house, — which agrees 
 exactly with the belief common, not many years ago, in 
 this country. The " Old black one " was supposed to be 
 present at every mason meeting and a story is told that 
 not many years ago, in the parish of Carsphairn, in 
 Galloway, an old woman interviewed the master of the 
 lodge there one evening as follows •.^—" The masons are 
 met the nicht ? " " Aye." " Weel, ye ken my wab was 
 stolen last week ? " " Aye, Janet ; but what business 
 has that wi' the mason meetin' ? " " Oh, ye ken ye'll be 
 raisin' the deil, and I wad jist like ye to ask him, sin' 
 he's here at onyrate, wha stole the wab ? " " Oh, aye, 
 Janet ! jist you gang awa', and we'll see what we can dae." 
 
ORIGINS ASCRIBED TO MASONRY 121 
 
 Next day, when Janet called upon the master, he told her 
 that " the deil " had not exactly communicated the name 
 of the thief, but he had mentioned that if the " wab " 
 was not returned "before Thursday next" the house of 
 the guilty person would fall upon him in the night-time, 
 and the whole family would be killed. This, he said, was 
 a great secret, and he strictly fopbade her communicating 
 it to more than one person. The secret was speedily 
 imparted to Janet's next-door neighbour, with many 
 injimctions not to let it go any further. As a matter of 
 course, it was known to the whole parish before night. 
 On the third morning thereafter Janet's wab was found 
 lying at her door, with a part, which had been cut off, 
 attached to the main body with pins. 
 
 The Druid theory at one time received considerable 
 support, but, although much has been written on the 
 subject, there is nothing that we have seen of a con- 
 vincing, and little of a satisfactory, character. That 
 the Druids were more than a mere savage priesthood is 
 evident from the impression they made on the Romans. 
 Their ceremonies had in them much that resembled the 
 Ancient Mysteries, and in this, Druidism resembles Free- 
 masonry ; but that there was the slightest direct 
 connection, or that the one is a survival of the other, we 
 have not yet seen a single proof, or a reasonable inference. 
 
 In the Gypsies, according to some writers, we see the 
 progenitors of our Craft. One author says, " Let the 
 Freemasons, if they please, call Hiram, King of Tyre, an 
 Architect, and tell each other in bad rhymes that they are 
 the descendants of those who constructed the Temple of 
 Solomon. To me, however, the opinion which seems 
 decisive is, that the sect has penetrated into Europe by 
 means of the Gypsies." This opinion common sense 
 
122 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 cannot well accept. The Gypsies are distinguished by 
 blood, language, and nomadic habits. The masons have 
 none of these. On the contrary they are cosmopolitan ; 
 and the idea of builders and the art of building, being 
 associated with the Gypsies, who refuse to live in houses, 
 seems somewhat absurd. The Gypsies may have signs 
 and tokens peculiar to themselves, but in this only do' 
 they resemble masons. In aU other respects, they are 
 not only different but in many ways antagonistic. 
 
 The learned German, Lessing, was of opinion that 
 Freemasonry had its origin in the Secret Association of 
 Templars which, it is said, for a lengthened period,, 
 existed in London ; and that Sir Christopher Wren 
 shaped it into its present form. This theory had many 
 supporters, foremost among whom was the Abb6 Barruel, 
 whose work on the subject was admired and commended 
 by the celebrated statesman, Edmund Burke. The 
 distinguished Dr. Armstrong also advocated the view of 
 a Templar origin. These were called the Knighthood of 
 the Temple of Solomon. The Hospitallers of St. John 
 became the successors of the Templars and from those, 
 it is said, sprang the Order of Freemasons. But, except 
 in having the same patron-saint and having a reference 
 to the Temple of King Solomon, there does not appear to 
 be any clear connection. The organisation, methods, 
 aims, and doctrines of the one are entirely different from 
 the other. 
 
 The theory that the Rosicrucians were the originators 
 of Freemasonry has been advanced with considerable 
 ingenuity by Professor Buhle in Germany, and that 
 singular genius and able writer, De Quincey, gave it in 
 this country greater prominence than it deserved. He 
 tried to prove that Freemasonry sprang from the 
 
ORIGINS ASCRIBED TO MASONRY 125 
 
 Rosicrucians through the influence of Robert Fludd and 
 his writings. This iniiuence, he assumes, caused Ashmole, 
 the antiquarian ; " Thomas Wharton, a physician ; 
 George Wharton Oughtred, the mathematician ; Dr. 
 Hewitt, Dr. Pearson, the divine ; and WiUiam Lilly, the 
 principal astrologer of the day," at a meeting " held in 
 Mason's Hall, Mason's Alley, Ba^inghall Street, London,, 
 in the year 1646 " to constitute " the first formal and 
 solemn lodge of Freemasons."* As to these persons 
 being Rosicrucians, however, or that this meeting was 
 different in any way from the meeting at Warrington at 
 which, in his diary, Ashmole distinctly states he was made 
 a Freemason, there is absolutely no proof given. The 
 whole thing is a surmise and is not even a reasonable 
 inference. While the Rosicrucians had some points of 
 resemblance to Freemasonry, these were more accidental 
 than essential in character. The search for the 
 philosopher's stone and the elixir of life, with certain 
 religious and humanitarian doctrines, were the professed 
 motives in their organisation, and there appears to have 
 been no similarity in their ceremonies, or general 
 symbolism. Of course, these remarks apply to the Rosi- 
 crucians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The 
 body under that name, of recent formation, and who meet 
 in a semi-masonic way, can have no historical pretensions. 
 Some writers have proclaimed the Essenes as the 
 founders of Masonry in the early part of the Christian 
 era. Of this mysterious Jewish sect, whose disappearance 
 has never yet been satisfactorily explained, it is difficult 
 to say anything of a positive character.! The chief 
 
 ■* De Quincey*s Works, vol. xvi., p. 412. 
 
 tThe Rev. A. C. Arnold in his "History of Freemasonry "says they were "the 
 
 faithful .depositories of the ancient Cabirian rite " (p. 27), but on what grounds he 
 
 makrs the statement he does not give any indication. 
 
124 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 •witness regarding their existence is the famous Jewish 
 ■writer, Josephus, and his testimony is both prejudiced 
 and contradictory. The main points known about them 
 are : they were celibates, abstained from oaths, hke the 
 modem Quakers ; had a great veneration for the inspired 
 Book of the Law, Hved apart from other men, like monks, 
 and their chief aim was to become Temples of the 
 Holy Ghost. There is not the slightest proof, visible to 
 lis, connecting them historically with the Order of 
 Free and Accepted Masons. Indeed, the chief points 
 known regarding them are contrary to the characteristics 
 of Freemasons. They were celibates, Freemasons are 
 not so. They lived apart from other men. Freemasons 
 mingle freely in adl classes and conditions of ordinary life. 
 So far as we know, they had no connection with the art 
 of building, while Freemasons have had, until modern 
 times, a close connection with operative work. 
 
 (3) Its Evolution most likely along the lines of 
 Operative Building. 
 
 Lasting aside these theories, let us turn our attention 
 to those associations in connection with operative 
 masonry whose organisations are more or less recorded 
 in history. It will be readily admitted that the 
 Evolution of Speculative Masonry is most likely to be 
 traced along the lines of operative building, and that the 
 process would extend for a considerable period prior to 
 the establishment of the Grand Lodge of England, in 
 1717. The view we wish to consider is, that down 
 through the Roman Collegia and the Medieval Craft 
 Guilds, along with certain traditions, there was probably 
 transmitted some of the symbolism of the Ancient 
 
ORIGINS ASCRIBED TO MASONRY 125 
 
 Mysteries ; and that the great quickening of intellectual 
 life in the sixteenth century, resulting from the social and 
 political upheaval of the Reformation, gave new life and 
 a more developed form to the symbolic speculative element 
 within the old Craft Lodges. The mental activities of 
 man had so long been " cribbed, cabined, and confined " 
 under ecclesiastical rule that, h^ng burst its bonds, it 
 fairly revelled and rioted in all sorts of ways. Hence we 
 find Cabahsm, Theosophy, Alchemy, and Astrology re- 
 ceiving an attention and support from the learned scholars 
 of the age, that, to us, seems to border on insanity. This 
 " mania " as De Quincey calls it, " infected all classes — 
 high and low, learned and unlearned." The spirit of 
 enquiry was rampant and, ill-directed as it was in many 
 respects, it had on the whole a wonderfully stimulating 
 effect. Science, in all its branches, expanded and 
 developed ; Literature, Art, and social and political life, 
 acquired fresh vigour. It is from this period we can mark 
 the presence of the speculative element in the old 
 Craft Lodges. Our view is, that the seed of ovir present 
 Speculative System, lying latent in these old lodges, was 
 quickened into life through the influence of the Reforma- 
 tion period, and, later on, in 1717, developed into the 
 present organised form. It is not at all unlikely that the 
 general influence of the period, and the publications 
 regarding the Rosicrucians, affected the minds of members 
 of the Craft like Ashmole. A unique symbolism lay ready 
 at their hands in the traditions and emblems of the Mason 
 Lodge. Under these circumstances, would it not seem 
 stranger if they had neglected it, than that they should 
 have paid attention to it and developed it, and thus give 
 greater prominence to the speculative aspect of the Craft, 
 than it had previously obtained ? Every new period. 
 
126 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 ■such as that of the Reformation, produces new conditions. 
 Man, in his onward evolution, adapts himself to these, and 
 fresh forms of mental and moreil life spring into being. 
 It seems to us impossible to conceive the masonic 
 fraternity as uninfluenced by the Reformation, and I 
 believe that the process of the Evolution of Speculative 
 Masonry was then begun, and continued until it cul- 
 minated in the birth and establishment of the present 
 organisation in 1717. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 ANCIENT SYMBOLISM AND MYSTERIES. 
 
 (1) Antiquity of Masonic Symbolism. 
 
 One of the oldest Chinese classics — a famous work 
 called " The Great Learning," said to have been written, 
 at least, 500 years B.C., contains the following passage : 
 "' A man should abstain from doing unto others what he 
 would not they should do unto him." and this is called 
 ■" the principle of acting on the Square." In the writings 
 of Mencius (about 280 B.C.) we find it taught "that men 
 should apply the Square and Compasses figuratively to 
 their lives, and the Level and the Marking Line besides, 
 if they would walk in the straight and even paths of 
 -wisdom and keep themselves within the boundaries of 
 Honour and Virtue." In book VI. of his Philosophy, he 
 says, " A Master Mason in teaching his apprentice makes 
 use of the Compasses and Square ; Ye who are engaged 
 in the pursuit of Wisdom, must also make use of the 
 Compasses and Square." * 
 
 In the Hebrew Scriptures we find, again and again, 
 masonic sjmibolism employed. Solomon, in his Proverbs, 
 says, " Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn 
 out her seven pillars." " The righteous is an everlasting 
 
 * Gould's History, vol. i., p. 23. 
 
128 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 foundation." In the Psalms, we read, " I will build up 
 Thy throne " and " buQd up Thy throne to all 
 generations." " The stone which the builders refused 
 hath become the head stone," and in other parts, such 
 as Isaiah and Jeremiah, it is written, " I shall speak 
 concerning a nation and concerning a Kingdom to build 
 it." " If ye will stiU abide in this land, then wiU I build 
 you, and not puU you down." " I will lay righteousness 
 to the plummet." " Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation 
 a stone, a tried stone, a precious comer-stone, a sure 
 foundation." " I look imto the rock from whence ye 
 are hewn." Amos says, " Behold the Lord stood upon 
 a wall made by a pliunb-line, with a plumb-line in His 
 hand." " Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of 
 My people Israel." "It is he that buildeth his stories 
 in the heaven." The writers of the New Testament, 
 also, make use of the same s5mibolism. Paul, to the 
 Corinthians, says, " As a wise master builder, I have laid 
 the foundation." " We have a building of God, an house 
 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Peter, 
 also, in his first Epistle, says, " Ye, also, as lively stones 
 are built up a spiritual house," and so on, through the 
 whole of the Old and New Testaments, you will find 
 masonic terms used as symbols. In aU kinds of secular 
 and sacred writings, the work and terms of operative 
 masonry have been utilised extensively as symbols to 
 illustrate moral truths. This is quite natural to expect, 
 when we reflect that, for many centuries, the art of build- 
 ing seems to have absorbed aU the energy and inventive 
 genius of mankind. Round it was developed art and 
 science, and every discovery in mathematics, mechanics, 
 and even astronomy, seems to have been utilised in 
 connection with those vast structures, the ruins of which 
 
ANCIENT SYMBOLISM AND MYSTERIES 129 
 
 fill US, to-day, with wonder and astonishment. And just 
 for this very reason, the traditions of our Order, ex- 
 aggerated and incorrect as they evidently are in detail, 
 may have a substratum of truth ; and the builders of 
 those ancient structures may have had a system of 
 sjmibolic moral instruction, as well as instruction in their 
 operative work. Is it at all likel^ that the men employed 
 in building such sacred temples had no mental and moral 
 instruction ? Is it not natural, under the circumstances 
 of the period when these were built, that the builders 
 were set apart, for their work, as well as the priesthood ? 
 In the building of the Tabernacle by Moses in the wilder- 
 ness, Bezaleel and Aholiab were, it is said, called by the 
 Lord for the work, and it is recorded " Then wrought 
 Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in 
 whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know 
 how to work all manner of work for the service of the 
 sanctuary " (Exodus xxxvi. 1). In the same way, we 
 find that when the Temple at Jerusalem was about to be 
 built, among the last acts of David was the appointing 
 of men for the work. We read, " And he gathered 
 together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the 
 Levites. Now the Levites were numbered from the age 
 of thirty years and upward : and their number by their 
 polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand. Of 
 which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward the 
 work of the house of the Lord " (1 Chronicles xxiii. 2-4). 
 We may safely assume that the Israelites adopted 
 the method common to the period, that the builders of 
 the ancient temples were trained men, and that their 
 training was not only in the operative work, but, also, 
 in some course of mental and moral instruction to fit 
 them for their work. 
 
130 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 (2) The Ancient Mysteries. 
 The Ancient Mysteries, so intimately connected with 
 the ancient temples, consisted of certain rites, or 
 ceremonies, to take part in which initiation and probation 
 were necessary. In all these Mysteries the prominent 
 features were those of sacrifice, death and a new life. 
 Those of Isis and Osiris originated in Egypt, and were 
 introduced into Greece about 1400 years B.C. There 
 they were known under several names, Orphic, Bacchic, 
 Eleusinian, etc. The Eleusinian are said to have been 
 " a great system at once mystical, philosophical, and 
 ethical." These were divided into two groups — the 
 Lesser and the Greater. Those initiated into the Lesser 
 were called Mystae, who, after taking an oath to secrecy 
 received instruction to enable them to understand the 
 mysteries of the Greater. The Greater occupied nine 
 days in celebration and, on the sixth day, the Mystae 
 who had served twelve months' probation were advanced 
 and raised into the Greater mysteries. An oath of 
 secrecy was taken and holy mysteries were read out 
 of a book called " Petroma," because it consisted of 
 two stones closely joined together. Certain questions 
 were put and answered in a set form. They were led 
 through darkness into light, and were allowed to see 
 what none but those thus admitted ever beheld. A 
 prescribed ritual was observed, and the principle running 
 through it all was that of a being who suffers and dies 
 and, afterwards, triumphs over death. " In the nocturnal 
 celebration of the Bacchic rites a statue was laid out 
 upon a couch as if dead, and bewailed with the bitterest 
 lamentations." " In all the Mysteries the initiated 
 possessed secret signs of recognition." * 
 
 * Gould's History, pp. 19, 20. 
 
ANCIENT SYMBOLISM AND MYSTERIES 131 
 
 The last of the Ancient Mysteries was that of Mithras 
 introduced into Rome 68 B.C., according to Von Hammer. 
 It became so popular that all other rites disappeared. 
 Its initiates were divided into seven grades, and the 
 neophyte after passing through several ordeals was 
 presented with an engraved stone, or amulet, as a token 
 of his admission. It prevailed in Rome until the 
 breaking up of the Empire. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ROMAN COLLEGIA AND THE MEDIEVAL GUILDS. 
 
 (1) The Roman Collegia. 
 
 In Ancient Rome there existed a system of colleges 
 forming a very prominent feature in its civic adminis- 
 tration and history. Notwithstanding this prominence 
 it is not easy to find out details and particulars regarding 
 them. Every writer, on any subject, takes for granted 
 a certain knowledge on the part of his reader. This is 
 all very well for the reader of the same period as the 
 writer, but, when 2000 years have intervened, apart 
 from the change in language, there is the difficulty of 
 forming a true conception, or picture, from old words, 
 and phrases long out of use. Notwithstanding these 
 difficulties we are able to learn something about these 
 colleges. We know they were not places for mere 
 academical studies, as the name would imply with us 
 to-day. They embraced colleges for the priesthood, for 
 civil administrators, such as lawyers, police-officers, 
 customs and revenue officers ; for merchants and for 
 tradesmen. They seem to have been a combination of 
 our Universities, technical schools, training colleges, 
 friendly societies, etc. There appears, also, to have been, 
 in some cases at least, social clubs mingled with them. 
 The Romans were a wonderfully systematic and practical 
 people and we may assume that, although we do not know 
 
THE ROMAN COLLEGIA AND THE MEDIEVAL GUILDS 133 
 
 the details, these colleges were well organised. When 
 we reflect that the Roman Civil Law and administration 
 iorms the basis of the national and mimicipal government 
 of Emrope and America to-day, we will not be surprised 
 to find, from historians who have studied the subject of 
 these colleges, that they formed the basis of the trade 
 guilds and corporations so colfepicuous in the Middle 
 Ages. 
 
 The Roman Colleges were known by the name of 
 Collegium, or Corpus, and are grouped by Gould under 
 four leading divisions : — 
 
 (1) Religious bodies, such as Colleges of Priests and of 
 
 the Vestal Virgins. 
 
 (2) Official bodies, such as Colleges of Scribse and 
 
 administrators, lawyers, etc. 
 
 (3) Trade and Commercial bodies, such as masons, 
 
 carpenters, bakers, etc., the members of which 
 had a common trade craft, or profession. 
 {4) Associations called Sodalitates, resembling modem 
 social clubs. 
 
 The Collegium (or Societas) was composed of coUegae 
 or sodales (companions). The term originally expressed 
 the tie which voluntarily bound them together and, 
 ultimately, came to signify a body of persons and the tie 
 uniting them. No college could consist of less than three 
 members, and so rigid was this rule that the expression 
 ■" tres faciunt collegium " — " three make a college " — 
 became a maxim of civil rule. The college was divided 
 into " decuriae " and " centuriae " — bodies of ten and a 
 hundred men, and was presided over by a " magister " 
 and by " decuriones." * Perhaps from these titles those 
 
 * Gould's History, p. 42. 
 
134 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 of Master and Deacons in the Mason lodge may have been 
 derived. There were also a treasurer, sub-treasurer, secre- 
 tary, and archivist. They had a common chest, a common 
 cult, a meeting house, and a common table. To each 
 candidate, on admission, an oath peculiar to the college 
 was administered. Dues and subscriptions were imposed 
 to meet the expenses of the college. They supported 
 their poor and buried their deceased brethren. Each 
 college celebrated its natal day. The sodales called 
 themselves and regarded themselves as " fratres " — 
 brethren. These colleges sometimes were named by the 
 particular trade, or profession, to which their members 
 belonged, and, sometimes, by the name of one of the 
 many gods, to whom the Romans paid reverence, just 
 as to-day we find Mason lodges dedicated to certain 
 saints — St. John, St. Mungo, St. David, etc. 
 
 (2) Identity of the Collegia with the Guilds in England. 
 
 Although we have not been able to learn anything 
 of the rules of the trade colleges some of these belonging 
 to the Cultorum Dei have been found, and, as mentioned 
 by Gould, these have been compared with those of three 
 of the guilds in London, Cambridge, and Exeter, by 
 Coote, ain acknowledged authority on the subject. In 
 his book, " The Romans in Britain " (pp. 390-413), he 
 places these respective rules side by side and remarks : 
 " These coincidences which cannot be attributed to 
 imitation or mere copying, demonstrates the absolute 
 identity of the guilds of England with the Collegium of 
 Rome and of Roman Britain." 
 
 These Collegia go back to the very earliest period of 
 Roman history, and, wherever the Roman ensigns were 
 
THE ROMAN COLLEGIA AND THE MEDIEVAL GUILDS 135 
 
 carried and Roman cities built, there the Collegia were 
 established. Those of the Architect! and Fabrorum are 
 frequently mentioned. The younger Pliny, when pro- 
 consul of Asia Minor, in a letter to the Emperor Trajan 
 informing him of a destructive fire in Nicomedia, "requests 
 permission to establish a collegium fabrorum for the 
 rebuilding of that city."* The oolleges being spread over 
 the wide extent of the Roman Empire, from Jerusalem 
 in Palestine to Lancaster in Britain, it is natural that the 
 customs, ceremonies, and constitutions would be, to 
 some extent, varied and modified by local circumstances 
 and conditions. Coote says, " All Roman cities were the 
 foster mothers of those especially Roman institutions^ — 
 the colleges — these were very dear to the Romans. They 
 were native to the great mother city. They were nearly 
 as old as municipality itself, and it was as easy to imagine 
 a Roman without a city, as to conceive his existence 
 without a college. No sooner was the Roman Conquest 
 of Britain begun, and a modicum of territory was obtained 
 than we find a Collegium in our Civitas Regnorum — a 
 collegium fabrorum. They (the Collegia) are masqued, it 
 is true, under the barbarous name of gild, when our 
 histories begin to tell us of them. This trivial word, 
 due to the contributions upon which the colleges had 
 from all time subsisted, betrays their constitution and 
 we find them also where we ought to expect them in the 
 Roman cities of Britain." Kemble, in " The Saxons in 
 England " (vol. xi., p. 268) says, " In the third century 
 Marcianus reckons, unfortunately without naming them, 
 fifty-nine celebrated cities in Britain." Pike in his 
 "History of Crime" (1873, vol. i., p. 65) says, "Towns 
 
 * Gould's History, vol. i , p. 44. 
 
136 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 bearing their Roman names existed when Bede, the first 
 historian, began to write, nearly three hundred years 
 after the date which has commonly been assigned to the 
 mythical voyage of Hengist and Horsa." The author 
 of The Arts, Manufacturers, Manners, and Institutions 
 of the Greeks and Romans (1833) observes with reference 
 to the word Collegium — " A name given to a corporate 
 body. The Romans had many such bodies ; the 
 Collegium augurum, pontificimi, aruspicum, quinde- 
 cemvirum, were the four chief, but there were also 
 collegia artificum et opificum, divided according to their 
 respective crafts, each governed by a praefect elected by 
 themselves. In them may be found the germ of our 
 Anglo-Saxon guilds and of our modern corporations." 
 Gould in his " History of Freemasonry " says, " The Guild 
 System existed before emd after the Norman Conquest, 
 but there is no historical evidence of its beginning. It 
 is, however, a fact of too much importance to be forgotten 
 that the guilds afterwards became, for a time, in one form 
 at least, the vital principle of the towns." 
 
 Such are some of the views of some prominent writers 
 on the subject and it may be remarked, as a striking 
 circumstance in connection with the Roman Collegia, 
 that the majority of translators and commentators 
 described them as guilds or companies. 
 
 Now, the point before us is : whence did the guilds 
 and corporations of England originate, if not from 
 the Roman Collegia ? That these existed and flourished 
 in the fifty-nine cities mentioned by Marcianus in the 
 third century may be at once assumed without reasonable 
 doubt, and it may be even more strongly asserted, that 
 institutions such as guilds could not be imported from 
 savage Jute, or Angleland, by the roving, piratical hordes 
 
THE ROMAN COLLEGIA AND THE MEDIEVAL GUILDS 137 
 
 who conquered England after the retreat of the Romans. 
 It is true these guilds attained greater prominence after 
 ihe Norman Conquest, but that was the natural result 
 of the greater prosperity of the country and the large 
 increase in the number of artisans of all kinds — many of 
 whom were imported from Normandy and France. The 
 great fact remains, beyond question, that these guilds 
 existed during the Saxon period, and that the only 
 rational conclusion as to their origin is, that they were 
 Roman Collegia in a modified form and under a new name, 
 caused by the change of the conditions and the language 
 of the country. 
 
 (3) Identity of the Collegia with the Guilds in France. 
 
 While this was the evolution of the Roman Collegia 
 in Britain, in France we find them developing in a similar, 
 but somewhat more marked fashion ; and it will now 
 be useful to our enquiry if we turn for a little to follow 
 the development in that region. 
 
 The ancient mysteries of Egypt, Syria, and Greece 
 were all inherited by the Romans who, in matters of 
 religion, were most cosmopolitan. Various forms of 
 these mysteries prevailed in the Roman Empire at 
 different periods, and the prevailing mystery on the 
 breaking up of the Empire was that of Mithras. Of 
 course, wherever the Roman power was established, the 
 mysteries were set up, and all historians on the subject 
 agree that there existed a close connection between the 
 Mysteries and the Collegia. One is inchned to think 
 that the Roman influence in France generally, as com- 
 pared with Britain, is relative to the amount of Latin 
 in the existing languages, and we find that, as late as 
 
138 SPECULATIVE MASONRY ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 496 A.D., the celebration of the Lupercalia existed in 
 many parts of France. While the country was overrun 
 by barbarous armies from the north and the Roman 
 power broken, the city institutions seem to have remained 
 untouched. M. E. Levasseur, in his " Historie dea 
 Classes Ouvrieres en France " (vol. i., p. 122) says, " It 
 was more especially in the south and in the cities that 
 the traditions of the past were perpetuated. The 
 country districts had been invaded by the men and 
 usages of Germany, but the cities, a sojourn in which 
 was avoided by the barbarians, preserved their Roman 
 populations and even a portion of their ancient civil 
 and political institutions. In 462 a.d., the games in 
 the circus were still celebrated at Aries." The same 
 author af&rms that " The working classes owe to the 
 Roman institutions not only their development but, so 
 to speak, their very existence." 
 
 When the Roman power in Gaul gave place to that of 
 the Franks, the prosperous populous cities were little 
 affected by the change of government. The conquerors 
 seem to have preferred to live, as they had been 
 accustomed, in the open country ; and to have left the 
 towns to follow their own customs and laws, which were 
 altogether Roman. No doubt this is the reason why in 
 French History, as pointed out by Gould, we meet with 
 evidence, at a very early period, of Trade Guilds in full 
 organisation and activity and having all the appearance 
 of maturity, if not of antiquity. A French historian, 
 quoted by Gould, remarks, " The inhabitants of Rheims 
 preserved, in the twelfth century, the recollection of the 
 Roman origin of their municipal council. The citizens 
 of Metz prided themselves on having exercised civil 
 rights before the duchy of Lorraine existed. They used 
 
THE ROMAN COLLEGIA AND THE MEDIEVAL GUILDS 139 
 
 to say ' Lorraine is young and Metz is old.' At Lyons, 
 Bourges, and Boulogne, the citizens maintained that 
 there had existed for those cities a right of free justice 
 and administration before France became a Kingdom." 
 Another historian, also quoted by Gould, says, " In the 
 majority of cities the organisation of the Craft Guilds 
 preceded that of the commune.» The proof of it is that 
 in almost ail the communes the political system and the 
 election of magistrates were based on the division of the 
 citizens into trade corporations." 
 
 That the French Guilds and the City communes, of 
 the early Middle Ages, were the direct descendants of the 
 old Roman Colleges and municipalities, seems to be the 
 unanimous opinion of the French Historians, and there 
 does not appear to have been, at any time, any attempt 
 to explain their origin otherwise. According to Levasseur 
 the Craft Guilds were in full possession of their privileges 
 and powers in the eleventh century. This was more 
 particularly the case in the south, where the cities had 
 been less disturbed by the wars and invasions that so 
 frequently took place from the downfall of the Roman 
 Empire to the time of Charlemagne. August Thierry on 
 this point says, " The corporations arose, equally with 
 the communes, from an application of the Guild System 
 to something pre-existing — to the corporations, or 
 colleges, of workmen of Roman origin." 
 
 In the Guilds the apprentice had to serve seven years 
 at his Craft. The qualifications for his admission were 
 legitimate birth, good honest character, and never having 
 been under any judicial sentence. When his apprentice- 
 ship was completed he was brought before the Masters 
 of the Craft and sworn to keep secret the Craft and all 
 points thereof. He then became a " journeyman ' 
 
140 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 travelling craftsman, and started on his " tour." The 
 Masters were elected at stated intervals and, in different 
 places and periods, had different names. At their head 
 were Masters or Provosts. These inspected all work, and 
 coTild enter any workshop at any time. Every craftsman 
 had to put a mark on his work. These Masters, or 
 Wardens, were the custodiers of the common seal of the 
 Craft, which they put on aU work inspected and approved 
 of by them. The Guilds had their Charities, relieving 
 indigent members, and the widows and orphans of such. 
 From the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries they 
 flourished without any material alteration until the 
 National Assembly, after the Revolution in 1793, 
 abolished them. 
 
CHAPTERJV. 
 
 THE FRENCH COMPANIONAGE. 
 
 (1) The Three Organisations and their Traditions. 
 
 Let us now turn our attention to the French Com- 
 panionage. As already stated in connection with the 
 Guilds, when an apprentice had served his seven years, 
 he became a " journeyman " and went on his travels. 
 Hence arose the Associations of " Journeymen," or, as 
 they were called " Compagnons du Tour," the object of 
 which was to support and assist Craftsmen on their 
 journeys. These bodies developed into three powerful 
 organisations : (1) The Sons of Solomon ; (2) The Sons 
 of Maitre Jacques ; and (3) The Sons of Maitre Soubise. 
 The Sons of Solomon are acknowledged to be the oldest. 
 They include the Stone-masons, the Joiners and the 
 Locksmiths, and the Stone-masons are the seniors. In 
 the Sons of Jacques, the Stone-masons are, also, the 
 seniors ; and they admitted, first, the Joiners and the 
 Locksmiths, and, later on, the members of nearly all the 
 Crafts. In the Sons of Soubise, the Carpenters were 
 originally the only Craft, but, latterly, they admitted 
 the Plasterers and Tylers. The towns included in the 
 tour of the Compagnon were chiefly in the south, where 
 the old Roman Guilds had lingered longest. 
 
142 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 Each of the three orders has its legend as to its origin, 
 and each has its hero, or mart}^, whose death forms 
 part of their ceremonies. Each has its " Devoir," or 
 primary constitution, occupying the same position as 
 "' the Charges " in the old British Craft Lodges. The 
 Sons of Solomon claim that King Solomon gave them a 
 ■" Devoir " and incorporated them fraternally within the 
 precincts of the Temple. They are accounted the most 
 ancient of the companions and have traditions relating 
 to Hiram, according to some, and to Adonniram, 
 according to other authorities. This difference of name 
 seems to have puzzled some writers, who seem to consider 
 the names as different. In reality, they are two forms 
 of the same name in Hebrew, just as if you said in 
 English, " Hiram " and " Lord," or " Master, Hiram." 
 The prefix Adoni or Adonai (which is naturally shortened 
 of the final vowel in the presence of the aspirate) means 
 Lord, or Master. 
 
 The Legend of Maitre Jacques of the second division 
 of the Companionage has been partially published and 
 may be found in Gould's History. It is to the effect that 
 Jacques, one of the first Masters of Solomon, and a 
 colleague of Hiram, was bom in the south of Gaul. In 
 early life he travelled to Greece, was there instructed in 
 the Arts and Sciences and became celebrated as a 
 sculptor and architect. He went to Jerusalem to the 
 building of the Temple. He there distinguished himself 
 by constructing and working out two magnificent 
 columns, and was, in consequence, accepted as a Master. 
 He returned to Gaul along with Maitre Soubise, with 
 whom he had sworn never to part. Jealousy, however, 
 on the part of Soubise, separated them and Jacques 
 landed at Marseilles, and Soubise at Bordeaux. Jacques 
 
THE FRENCH COMPANIONAGE 143 
 
 {choosing thirteen companions and forty disciples) 
 travelled over the country. Constant warfare arose 
 between the followers of Soubise and Jacques, and the 
 latter was once nearly assassinated. At length, one of 
 his own disciples betrayed him, and he was murdered 
 when alone, and engaged in prayer in his accustomed spot. 
 His disciples arrived just in tim^to receive his last words 
 before he died. The funeral ceremonies lasted three 
 days, amid terrible storms, and were of a peculiar 
 character. It is said " At the destruction of the Temple 
 the Sons of Jacques separated, and divided amongst 
 them his clothing." " After the division of the articles 
 belonging to M. Jacques, the Act of Faith was found, 
 which was pronounced by him on the day of his reception 
 before Solomon, Hiram, the High Priest, and all the 
 Masters." 
 
 The traditions of the several bodies of the Companion- 
 age remain still in great obscurity, notwithstanding the 
 several publications regarding them, yet all, while 
 differing as to names and details have three points in 
 common with the Hiramic legend of Freemasonry, viz., 
 a betrayal, a death, and a raising. Of all the various 
 and curious resemblances between the Companionage 
 and Freemasonry, perhaps the most interesting is the 
 Hiramic Legend. Some writers are of opinion that it was 
 introduced into the Companionage by companions who 
 previously had been initiated into Freemasonry. Gould, 
 however, in his History, has very clearly shown that this 
 could not be the case. Modem Freemasonry was not 
 introduced into France until 1726 and there are clear 
 proofs of the existence of the Companionage with its 
 legends as early as 1640, and inferentially before the 
 year 1400. It has also to be remembered in connection 
 
144 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 with this that there are traces of the Hiramic Legend 
 in connection with the British Craft Lodges prior to 1717. 
 
 (2) Interesting Customs and Rules. 
 
 While many points in the Companionage have been 
 carefully concealed from the outer world, on their customs 
 and rules more light has been thrown. The following is 
 a brief summary of some of these which strike a mason as 
 interesting : — 
 
 The house in which the companions met, and which 
 formed the quarters of those on travel, was called 
 " Mere " or " Mother," just as masons speak of their 
 lodge as Mother. Here assemblies were held, and 
 banquets followed ; each member paying an equal sum, 
 whatever his consumption might be. The new arrival 
 applied here, and was directed where to find employment. 
 If destitute, he here obtained credit. If called home and 
 he had no money, he was helped, from town to town, 
 on his way. If sick, each member in turn visited him, 
 and provided for his wants. If he died they buried him. 
 
 The funeral ceremonies are peculiar. The coffin is 
 borne on the shoulders of companions. Two canes 
 crossed, an interlaced Square and Compasses, and the 
 colours of the society, are placed on the top. They march 
 to the cemetery in twos, place the coffin on the edge of 
 the grave £ind form round it the " living circle." An 
 address is given by one of the companions, and all kneel 
 on one knee, and offer a prayer to the Supreme Being. 
 The coffin is lowered and the " Accolade " or " Guil- 
 brette " follows. This part of the ceremony is of special 
 interest, and is as follows : — Two canes are placed 
 cross-wise on the ground. Two companions stand, each 
 
THE FRENCH COMPANIONAGE 145 
 
 within one of the quarters thus formed, turn half-round 
 on the left foot, advance the right foot into the empty 
 square in front, and, taking each other by the right hand, 
 whisper in each others ear and embrace. All go through 
 this act in turn, kneel once more on the edge of the grave, 
 offer up a prayer, throw three pellets of earth on the 
 coffin and retire. * 
 
 In connection with some of the Companionage, 
 technical schools were maintained in every town in 
 which they had a society branch. In these schools 
 Science, as well as Art, were taught ; and to them, 
 perhaps, France is indebted for her. marked superiority 
 in artistic handicraft. 
 
 According to Clavel, the " funeral catastrophies " of 
 the legends were enacted in their ceremonies. The Sons 
 of Solomon wore " white gloves " to signify their in- 
 nocence of the death of Hiram, and the common emblems 
 of all the societies were the Square and Compasses. 
 
 (3) The " Wolves " of the Sons of Solomon and the 
 Masonic "Lewis." 
 
 A remarkable feature of the Companionage is the Sons 
 of Solomon calling themselves "Loups" (pronounced 
 " loos ") or wolves. Now, what we call the " Lewis " the 
 French call " Louve " and the two wedge-shaped side 
 pieces " Louveteaux," or little wolves. A companion is a 
 wolf and his sons are called Louveteaux. In Britain the 
 son of a mason is called a " Lewis." Evidently the word 
 " Lewis " has been derived from the French " Louve " — 
 a wolf ; at least, there is no other derivation that we are 
 aware of. But, why this name of wolves ? It is here 
 we find another trace of the connection between the 
 
146 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 Companionage and the Ancient mysteries. A writer in the 
 Encyclopedia Britannica says the Lupercalia mysteries 
 were very ancient, possibly pre-Roman. Its rites were 
 under the superintendence of a Corporation of Priests 
 called " Luperci " — wolves, and its great celebration was 
 on the 15th of February. It survived until the year 
 494A.D. The Luperci were divided into two colleges called 
 "Dents de Louve" — a wolf's tooth. Royal palaces were 
 called " Lupara " — wolves' lairs, I presume, because they 
 were places of strength. Hence, no doubt, the name of 
 the palace in Paris, the Louvre. Within the last century 
 there was an annual festival held at Jumieges which was 
 considered to be a survival of the Lupercalia. " In the 
 mysteries of Isis the candidate was made to wear the 
 mask of a wolf's head "* and we know the Bacchic 
 mysteries were derived from Egypt. This connection 
 is further indicated from the name of Maitre Soubise 
 who prominently figures in the legends of the Companion- 
 age. The name " Sabazius " is one applied to " Bacchus." 
 He was also called " Sabos," and Gould suggests that 
 Soubise is a corruption of Sabazius, and probably at an 
 early date the pronunciation of the former was much 
 nearer the original than that of to-day. The Anglo- 
 Saxon workman, hearing the name, might naturally ask 
 what it was, and receive the reply that it was a Greek 
 name. Hence, probably, the " Naymus the Grecian " of 
 the old British Charges, which has puzzled everybody. 
 In this, it seems to us, Br. Gould has made, very 
 probably, the true explanation, and we would add to it 
 this remark : The Anglo-Saxon is not a good linguist 
 and there are certain sounds he cannot, as a rule, master, 
 
 "* Hcckcthorn, sec Gould's History, vol, i., p. 144. 
 
THE FRENCH CAMPANIONAGE 147 
 
 particularly the gutteral. If the name originally was 
 anything like the Greek Bacchus — the Anglo-Saxon 
 would prefer to say, or write, " A Greek name " and, 
 as Gould remarks, from ' Naymus Grecus ' (which would 
 be the form of the expression then), to ' Naymus the 
 Grecian ' is no great step. 
 
 (4) Similarities of the Companionage and Freemasonry. 
 
 The several points of agreement between the Com- 
 panionage and Freemasonry are very ably dealt with 
 by Gould. These we have condensed and arranged as 
 follows : — 
 
 Similarities of Expression and, Phraseology. 
 
 (1) The name " Sons of Solomon " reminds us of our 
 
 own fraternity. 
 ^2) Companions de Liberte — free companions, is very 
 
 close to Freemasons. 
 (3) " Devoir " is a literal trauislation of our English 
 
 " Charges." 
 ^4) " General Assembly " is a term common to both 
 
 Societies. 
 <6) "Accepted Companions" and "Initiated Com- 
 panions " sound quite familiar. 
 ^6) " Passed Companion " presents a remarkable 
 
 coincidence with our own expression " Passed 
 
 Fellow-craft." 
 <7) The identity of idea and application of the words 
 
 "Lewis " and " Louveteau," can scarcely be a 
 
 mere chance correspondence. 
 
148 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 Procedure before Initiation. 
 
 In both societies we find : — 
 
 (1) A previous inquiry into the candidates' character. 
 
 (2) An absence of compulsion and a perfect freedom, 
 
 of choice. 
 
 (3) A preliminary exposition of the general tendency 
 
 of the society. 
 
 (4) Perfect liberty to withdraw up to the last possible 
 
 moment. 
 
 (5) Sponsors, represented in Freemasonry by the 
 
 proposer and seconder. 
 
 The Government of the Societies. 
 
 (1) Each particular branch of the Companionage was 
 
 thoroughly independent and was welded inta 
 uniformity with the other branches by the various 
 charges. Previous to 1717 this was, generally, the 
 status of masonic lodges. 
 
 (2) Each branch and lodge exercised the powers of 
 
 petty justice over its own members. 
 
 (3) Punishments took the form of fines and, in grave 
 
 cases, of expulsion. 
 
 (4) There was a perfect equaUty of membership. 
 
 (5) All the members took part in the election of 
 
 officers. 
 
 (6) Every companion and every fellow of the craft was. 
 
 eligible for office. 
 
 (7) The officers in the Companionage were a president, 
 
 elders, and secretary. If we regard the president 
 as Master and the elders as Wardens, the exact 
 counterpart is met with in the three principal 
 officers of a Freemason Lodge. 
 
THE FRENCH COMPANIONAGE 149 
 
 The Acknowledged Principles of the two Institutions. 
 
 {\) The companions professed to honour God. 
 
 (2) To preserve their Master's interests. 
 
 (3) To yield to one another mutual support and 
 \ T \ assistance. 
 
 ■ These are all cardinal pgints of a Freemason's 
 profession. 
 
 (1 
 
 <2: 
 <3: 
 {4; 
 <5; 
 (6; 
 
 (9: 
 
 (10 
 
 <11 
 
 <i2: 
 
 03 
 (15 
 
 <i6: 
 
 (17 
 <18; 
 
 {19; 
 (2o; 
 
 Resemblances in Ceremonies and Customs. 
 
 In the sequence of degrees. 
 
 In the costume and posture of candidates. 
 
 In having prescribed steps. 
 
 In conventional knocks. 
 
 In the progression from one officer to another. 
 
 In an examination on previously imparted in- 
 struction. 
 
 In Circumambulation. 
 
 In Discalceation. 
 
 In the Living Circle. 
 
 In the two lighted candles. 
 
 In the oath of Secrecy. 
 
 In avoiding a conventional method of salutation. 
 
 In the banquet following the ceremony. 
 
 In the use of two separate rooms. 
 
 In the Guilbrette. 
 
 In having watch, or pass, words. 
 
 In the use of the Square and Compasses. 
 
 In holding monthly meetings on a certain day of 
 the week and not a fixed day of the month. 
 
 In holding a yearly festival. 
 
 In converting fines into liquor for the general 
 company. 
 
160 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 Accidental Coincidences. 
 
 (1) The enmity of the Roman Church. 
 
 (2) The admission of candidates of all religions. 
 
 (3) The blue sash edged with gold. 
 
 The most striking fact : — 
 
 The mutual possession of an Hiramic Legend and 
 its probable existence amongst the companions 
 from a very remote period. 
 The resemblances here enumerated (41 in all) 
 are too many and too close to be accounted for by 
 accident. It seems an irresistible conclusion that the 
 Companionage of France and the Operative Lodges of 
 Britain were the offspring of a common parent, and the 
 only parent visible on the pages of history is the Collegia 
 of Rome. These were closely allied and identified with 
 the Ancient mysteries, and thus seemingly, along with 
 the operative art of building, came down to us the seeds 
 of that system of speculative masonry which, to-day, 
 encircles the globe and embraces every sect and section 
 of Humanity. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE GERMAN STEIN-METZEN. 
 
 (1) The Name and Origin of the Organisation. 
 
 The meaning of the name " Stein-Metzen " has been 
 rendered in two ways. Some authorities say the word 
 " Metzen " comes from the same Teutonic root as 
 " Messer " — a knife, and " Meitzel " — a chisel ; and, 
 therefore, they translate the name as " Stone-cutters." 
 Others hold that the root of the word is " Messen " to 
 measure, and that the name means " Stone-measurers." 
 Of course, there can be no difference of opinion as to 
 " Stein " meaning " stone." Gould says, in his History 
 of Freemasonry (vol. i., p. 108), that the translation 
 stone-measurers is " identical in all points with our own 
 term stone-mason." This can scarcely be the case, 
 unless Br. Gould holds the words " Mason " and 
 " Measurer " to be the same. Essentially it seems to us, 
 the word " Mason " means a builder, one who masses, 
 or brings together and, although in doing so, he measures 
 his material, the measuring is incidental to the main 
 and essential function of building. The name " Stone- 
 mason," therefore, must surely be held as quite distinct 
 from that of " Stone-measurer." On the whole, the 
 interpretation of " Stone-cutters " appears to be the 
 more natural one, and, in this, we choose to follow 
 Steinbrenner and Fort, in preference to Gould. 
 
 As to the origin of the Stein-Metzen organisation there 
 has been considerable controversy. It is, at present, 
 
152 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 neither our desire nor purpose to consider, or to state, 
 the various views and the many arguments advanced 
 in this discussion. Rather would we see if we can 
 gather up and put together the main and indisputable 
 facts, acknowledged generally, on the subject : — 
 
 (1) The art of building was introduced into Germany 
 
 by the early Christian missionaries, probably in 
 the fifth century. 
 
 (2) The missionaries were sent out by the Celtic Church 
 
 of Ireland and Scotland, and they built monasteries 
 and churches in various parts. 
 
 (3) Later on, missionaries from the Romish Church 
 
 succeeded the Celtic missionaries and extended 
 the art of building throughout Germany up to the 
 twelfth century. 
 
 (4) Whenever and wherever cities arose and developed, 
 
 Craft guilds were formed and fostered. 
 
 (5) In the course of time, the Masters in the Craft 
 
 guilds — with the single exception of the masons — 
 gradually excluded workmen from their meetings, 
 and the workmen thus excluded formed guilds 
 of their own. 
 
 (6) In, or about, the twelfth century, the Church had 
 
 become rich and consequentlyindolent and vicious. 
 It preferred to spend its wealth in luxurious 
 living than in missionary enterprise and in 
 building new stations and churches. This, and 
 perhaps other causes, forced the skilled ecclesias- 
 tical masons to leave the emploj^ment of the 
 monks and amalgamate with the Craft guilds in 
 the towns. 
 
 (7) From this amalgamation sprang the organisation 
 
 known as the Fraternity of Stein-Metzen. 
 
THE GERMAN STEIN-METZEN 153 
 
 (2) The Culdees. 
 
 It is generally admitted that Roman civilisation in 
 Germany was obliterated in the early centuries of the 
 Christian era, and that the art of building, prior to the 
 arrival of the Celtic missionaries, extended to little more 
 than the erection of rude huts. It will, then, be 
 interesting, as well as natural, thart we should direct our 
 attention for a little to those missionaries and the church 
 they represented. 
 
 The missionaries, we have referred to, are alluded to by 
 historians as Culdees, and round this name there has 
 been no end of controversy. Some assert they are, 
 under another name, monks of St. Columba. But, 
 they may have been followers of that saint, although 
 not monks. As to the name, it would take too much 
 time to mention all the curious derivations put 
 forward. As the church to which they belonged was 
 distinctly Gaelic, it seems ridiculous to go to any other 
 language for the meaning of the name. " Cul " means 
 the back — " air do chM," — behind you. " Ctil ri ctil " — 
 back to back. It has the idea of support, of mutual help, 
 as in EngUsh — ^backing, as well as retirement. " Ciaile " 
 — a store room. " Cuil " — a comer, nook, niche. There 
 is also " Ceil " — to conceal, hide, screen, shelter, and 
 "Ceile" — a spouse, husband, wife, a match, a separat- 
 ing, etc. ; and " Ceiltinn " — concealing, hiding, Dia 
 or Di, means God. Dr. Mitchell, in his excellent History 
 of Gaehc Scotland, says the Culdees were so called to 
 contra-distinguish them from the ordinary monks. 
 The ordinary monks were called in Latin " Christicolae " 
 = Christ worshippers, but the first mentioned were 
 called " Dei-colae " = God worshippers, because they 
 retired to secret places ; and thus, in Gaelic, they would 
 
154 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 be called " Ceile De," which in course of time became 
 corrupted into Culdee. But, although there is little 
 doubt that the meaning of the word Culdee is that of 
 secret God-worshippers, it does not follow that the name 
 was given to contra-distinguish them from the ordinary 
 monks, nor does it, so far as we can see, indicate even that 
 they were monks, nor that they were, in any way, hermits. 
 They might retire from time to time and thus get the name. 
 Indeed, the name is more likely to have been applied 
 if they lived an ordinary life and retired only for a period 
 — brief or prolonged, regular or at odd times — to worship 
 God, than if they were, like monks, supposed to be 
 continually doing so, in some out of the way place. 
 The very name indicates a characteristic act, namely, 
 retiring to worship God. This, constantly repeated, 
 would distinguish them much more than if they had con- 
 tinually lived apart, just as any action constantly repeated 
 makes more impression than when done once. There 
 is nothing, also, to indicate that they were hermits. On 
 the contrary, the fact that the missionaries to Germany 
 were known by the name, is an indication that they were 
 not hermits, but full of active sjmipathy and love for man- 
 kind. In all the records we have of the Culdees, both 
 in the British Isles and on the Continent, we find them 
 in close active work and associated with their fellows. 
 Among the very earliest references in Ireland we find 
 " Maenach a Cele-De came across the sea westwards, to 
 establish laws in Ireland." St. Maelruain, the founder of 
 the Church at Tamhlacht, near Dublin, gathered round 
 him a fraternity. In Armagh they existed as a capitular 
 body down to at least 1628 a.d. In Scotland there are 
 records referring to the Culdees in the Pictish Kingdom 
 and these show that they lived in commvmities, not 
 
THE GERMAN STEIN-METZEN 155 
 
 isolated. We also find them as a community at York 
 in 936 A.D. 
 
 Now, the fact we wish to emphasise is, that the Culdees 
 were not isolated anchorites but, although some of them 
 may have been so, were active men engaged in some way 
 with church work, and in the missionary work in 
 Germany. It has also to be kept in view, that in the 
 Celtic Church, as distinguished from that of Rome, the 
 monks, or clergy, were not celibates. They married and 
 worked with their hands in building places for worship. 
 In the first establishment of missionary stations, the 
 distinction between the builder and the preacher would 
 not be seen. The less prominent builder would not be 
 noticeable until a more settled state had arrived. If, as we 
 suspect, there was a building fraternity in the early Celtic 
 Church, they would not appear peculiar in early primitive 
 conditions. But, when busy communities gathered 
 together they were characterised by retiring together, it 
 might be, " to the highest hill or the lowest valley." 
 
 But where did the Culdees obtain a knowledge of 
 operative masonry ? Tertullian, the Roman writer, in the 
 year 196 a.d. records that " Those localities of the Britons, 
 hitherto inaccessible to the Romans, had become subject 
 to Christ . . . The Kingdom and name of Christ 
 have extended to places which defied the arms of Rome." 
 This remark could only be applicable to Scotland. The 
 persecutions of the Christians by the Roman Emperors 
 undoubtedly caused many of them to fly to Scotland, 
 for ever5rwhere else the Roman eagles were triumphant. 
 Of these fugitives there would surely be some belonging 
 to the collegium fabrorum, and thus, northward along 
 with the seeds of ChristiEinity, came the art of building. 
 Scotland through those fugitives became the first 
 
156 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 Christian Kingdom in the world. In the year 397 a.d. 
 we find records of what was called a great monastery 
 and church at Whithorn. The early Celtic churches smd 
 monasteries were built of dry stone with considerable 
 skill. The skill was there, but the material could only 
 be that which lay at hand. No marble to work on, nor, 
 perhaps, many tools and appliances to work with. The 
 roofs, doors, and windows were formed by overlapping 
 the stones, and, in the case of monasteries, the roofs 
 were all converged to a common centre and, hence, are 
 ■called " bee-hive " houses. These early buildings seem 
 to us to be the beginning of the Gothic style. The 
 Culdee builders in Germany would naturally begin to 
 build in the style to which they had been accustomed. 
 Adapting themselves to the new conditions of climate 
 and material and, very probably, with an extended 
 knowledge of the art through contact, later on, with the 
 Frankish builders of the south, they, and their successors, 
 improved their style until the Gothic form became fully 
 developed. Cities began to grow round the missionary 
 stations and, all over the land, civilisation and commerce 
 spread their blessings. The Benedictine Monks of Rome 
 became the heirs of the pioneer labours of the Culdees 
 on the Continent and, no doubt, these introduced French 
 Craftsmen, possibly " Sons of Solomon." The ceremonies 
 of the Benedictines are said, by some, to have a close 
 resemblance to some of the masonic ceremonies ; and on 
 this the theory has been advanced of a Benedictine origin 
 of Freemasonry. We do not know enough on the subject 
 to form any decided judgment ; but if there is any 
 such resemblance, it arises from an early connection of 
 the Benedictines with the French Sons of Solomon, and 
 not from any connection with the Lodges of Freemasons. 
 
THE GERMAN STEIN-METZEN 157 
 
 (3) The German Guilds and Stein-Metzen. 
 
 With the rise of cities and commerce in Germany arose 
 Guilds of Craftsmen, and we find them fully developed 
 and active in the thirteenth century, notwithstanding^ 
 attempts made, by Royal command, to suppress them. 
 There were two kinds of guilds in existence there, as 
 in France and Britain — that of theCraftsmen, or workers^ 
 and that of the Masters. The Masters', or freeholders' 
 guild, or corporation, was formed of burghers who had 
 certain civil privileges in the cities in which they lived. 
 The Craftsmen's guild was composed of workmen who 
 went wherever work was to be found, but who could not 
 execute work on their own account. 
 
 There is a Code or Constitution extant of the year 1459, 
 that gives us the first insight into the organisation of 
 the Stein-Metzen. Other documents of a later date have 
 been found in quantity, such as the Torgau Ordinances 
 of 1462, and the Brother-Book of 1563. From these there 
 are certain points of interest worthy- of being noted : — 
 
 (1) The members were classified as Apprentices, 
 
 Fellows, and Masters. , 
 
 (2) The Apprentices were not admitted to the Brother- 
 
 hood, and every one had to serve an apprentice- 
 ship of five years before he could be admitted as 
 a Fellow. 
 
 (3) The Master was elected by the Fellows, but not 
 
 invariably. 
 
 (4) At his admittance the Fellow took a solemn 
 
 obligation, on his truth and honour (in lieu of an 
 oath), that (a) he would be true, loyal, and 
 obedient ; (b) maintain the Craft ; (c) would not 
 change his mark ; (d) nor disclose the greeting and 
 grip to any non-mason ; (e) nor commit any part 
 
158 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 thereof in writing. Over, and in addition, to this, 
 both Master and Fellow took an oath, as stated 
 in Article Ivi. of the Brother-Book, " by the oath 
 which each one has taken to the Craft." 
 
 (5) The ceremony concluded with a feast. 
 
 (6) They had grips and probably signs and words. At 
 
 the beginning of the nineteenth century, Herr 
 Osterrieth, an architect, joined a survival of the 
 Stein-Metzen at Strassburg, and on being ad- 
 mitted to Freemasonry, by Heldmann, at Aarau, 
 in Switzerland, found, to his surprise, that the 
 grTp of the E.A. was the same as that given him 
 in Strassburg. 
 
 (7) The lodge of Stein-Metzen was opened with three 
 
 blows of the Gavel. 
 
 (8) The mason travelled for two years as a Fellow. 
 
 (9) The officers of the Lodge were Masters and Fellows. 
 ^10) In the cathedral of Wiirzburg two piUars are in a 
 
 part of the building, which at one time formed 
 
 part of the original porch ; and, in imitation of 
 
 King Solomon's Temple, they are called Jachin 
 
 and Boaz, and the names are engraved on the 
 
 capitals. A counterpart of Jachin is found in 
 
 Bamberg Cathedral, and one of Boaz in the New 
 
 Market Church of Merseburg. 
 
 In the Brother-Book (1563) there are other things 
 
 which also arrest the attention of the Freemason. For 
 
 instance, Article Ixviii., " Nothing shall be withheld 
 
 from any one, who has been accepted and pronounced free 
 
 but, whatever ought to be told, or read, to him, that shall 
 
 he be told and communicated, in order that none may 
 
 excuse himself or complain that, had he previously known 
 
 thereof, he would not have joined the Craft." 
 
THE GERMAN STEIN-METZEN 159 
 
 In the Torgau Ordinances (1462) we find the following 
 in Article xxviii., " The Master shall knock with three 
 blows, the Wardens with two consecutively, and one for 
 announcements at morning, noon, and eve, as is the old 
 usage of the land." Article xxxi. is curious :■ — " No Master 
 shall allow his Apprentice to pledge his mark unless he 
 has served his time." There ace also various rules 
 regarding the moral conduct of Masters, Fellows, and 
 Apprentices. The duties of Masters and Wardens are 
 defined : amongst them being the proving of the Level 
 and the Plumb-nile ; seeing that the stones " be well 
 and truly made of the fellows " ; and, (Article li.) " if a 
 Warden mark a stone, because it is of no use, then shall 
 he (the workman) lose his wages." There are also various 
 rules regarding the marking of stones and the answering 
 of the knocks. The Wardens were to be the first in the 
 lodge and the last to leave, and to act in several ways 
 in the absence of the Master. There are fines exacted for 
 various offences. Articles Ixx. and Ixxi. enjoin, " What- 
 soever fellow shall speak the other iU, or call him liar in 
 ill-will, or earnest, or is foul-mouthed in the place of 
 labour, he shall pay xii. Kr. to forfeit." " Whatsoever 
 fellow shall laugh another to scorn, or jeer at him, or 
 call him by a nickname, he shall pay xv. Kr. to forfeit." 
 There are also regulations regarding the marking of stones 
 by fellows. They were not to place their marks on them 
 until finished and truly made. 
 
 The rules as to general conduct are explicit and clear. 
 Any fellow who ate, or drank, to excess, had to forfeit 
 one week's wages and 1 lb. of wax. He was not to consort 
 with, nor treat " notorious females " ; or disport himself 
 with " ungodly women " ; nor slander another fellow, 
 nor speak evil reports regarding him. There are also 
 
160 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 rules regarding helping each other in work and in sickness. 
 Article cxi. says, " And if any fellow be in need on account 
 of sickness, and have not wherewithal to live because he 
 lieth sick, he shall be assisted from the box, and if he 
 recovers, he shall pay it." Article cxii. provides, " And 
 if any fellow shall make a journey for the guild, in that 
 that concerns the Craft, his expenses shall be paid him 
 out of the box." 
 
 These extracts will, perhaps, give a better idea of the 
 Stein-Metzen organisation, and the resemblance it bears, 
 to that of Freemasonry, than any elaborate descriptions, 
 could do. 
 
 On the 16th August, 1731, an Imperial Edict was, 
 issued in Germany prohibiting all brotherhoods of 
 Craftsmen, oaths of secrecy, etc. This was in con- 
 sequence of various disputes and strikes that led ta 
 riots and bloodshed among various trades, notably that 
 of the Shoemakers of Augesberg. In this the innocent 
 suffered with the guilty, and the brotherhood of the 
 Stein-Metzen was thus made illegal. Notwithstanding 
 this, however, in various forms it existed down to within 
 the memory of the present generation and, perhaps in. 
 some form or other, it still exists. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE OLD BRITISH LODGES. 
 
 * 
 
 (1) The Old Charges. 
 
 Up to the year 1860, among the masonic fraternity, there 
 was scarcely anything known regarding the old British 
 Lodges. Since that time much has been discovered, 
 particularly through the careful and unwearied researches 
 of the late Bro. Hughan. Old mouldering manuscripts 
 have been rescued in many out of the way places, lodge 
 chests and private collections have been searched, and 
 the result has been rather surprising. The " Old Charges," 
 as they are called, formed an important element in these 
 discoveries. To an old lodge they were the equivalent 
 of the Grand Lodge Charter to a modern lodge. They 
 were essential to its existence as, without them, nothing 
 could be done. The reading of the Charges constituted 
 perhaps the greater part, or at least an important part, 
 in the initiatory ceremony. These documents number 
 53, and have all been carefully collated. No two of them 
 are alike, and we would call this to the special attention 
 ' of those brethren who clamour so much for uniformity, 
 and who would have all lodge work cribbed and curbed 
 in a cast-metal form. These ancient documents vary, 
 although in all substantial points they are in singular 
 harmony with each other. They seem as if all coming 
 from a common source, and constructed for one common 
 purpose. Many of them are undated, and their age has 
 to be reckoned by internal indications. Gould, in his 
 
 M 
 
162 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 history, arranges them into three classes. A. Originals ; 
 B. Late Transcripts ; C. Printed Copies, Extracts, and 
 References. This is not quite a happy classification. 
 The first class, named " Originals," are evidently, 
 from internal indications, copies, more or less, of still 
 older documents. The second class are pen-copies of 
 acknowledged older documents. The third class are 
 printed copies, from written MSS., from minutes, or from 
 other sources. It seems to us the name " Primary " = 
 the first known, would be a better term for the first class ; 
 Pen-copies, for the second ; and Press-copies for the 
 third class. Of the first named, there are 31 ; of the 
 second, 6 ; and of the third, 16. The following is the list, 
 as given by Gould, with the dates he assigns to them, and 
 the places where they may be found, or where they are 
 referred to. You will find full details respecting these 
 interesting MSS. in his admirable history. 
 
 A. Primary Old Charges. 
 
 No. 1 — Halliwell (14th century), British Museum. 
 
 2 — Cooke (15th century), British Museum. 
 
 3 — ^Landsdowne (16th century), British Museum. 
 ,, 4 — Grand Lodge (a.d. 1583), Grand Lodge of England. 
 „ 5— York, No. 1 (17th century), The York Lodge, No. 236. 
 
 6 — Wilson, No. 1 (17th century), Thirlestane House, 
 Cheltenham. 
 
 7 — ^Wilson, No. 2 (17th century), Thirlestane House, 
 Cheltenham. 
 „ 8— Inigo Jones (1607), Rev. A. F. A. Woodford, London. 
 „ 9— Wood (1610), Rev. A. F. A. Woodford, London. 
 .. 10— York, No. 3 (1630), At York, 1779. 
 „ 11 — Harleian, 1942 (17th century), British Museum. 
 „ 12 — Harleian, 2064 (17th century), British Museum. 
 „ 13 — Sloane, 3848 (1646), British Museum. 
 „ 14^Sloane, 3323 (1659), British Museum. 
 ,, 16 — Buchanan (17th century). Grand Lodge of England. 
 
THE OLD BRITISH LODGES 163 
 
 No. 16— Kilwinning (17th century), Mother Kilwinning Lodge. 
 
 ,, 17 — -Atcheson Haven (1666), Grand Lodge of Scotland. 
 
 ,, 18 — -Aberdeen (1670), Ancient Lodge, Aberdeen. 
 
 „ 19— Melrose, No. 2 (1674). Old Lodge, Melrose. 
 
 „ 20 — Hope (17th century). Lodge of Hope, Bradford. 
 
 ,, 21 — York, No. 5 (17th century). The York Lodges. 
 
 „ 22 — York, No. 6 (17th century), The York Lodges. 
 
 ., 23 — Antiquity (1686), Lodge of4|&.ntiquity, London. 
 
 ,, 24 — Supreme Council, No. 1 (1686), Golden Square, London. 
 
 „ 25— York, No. 4 (1693), The York Lodge. 
 
 „ 26 — Alnwick (1701), Alnwick. 
 
 „ 27— York, No. 2 (1704), The York Lodge. 
 
 „ 28 — Scarborough (1705), Grand Lodge of Canada. 
 
 „ 29 — Papworth (1714), Mr. Wyatt Papworth, London. 
 
 „ 30 — Gateshead (1730), Lodge of Industry, Gateshead. 
 
 ,, 31 — Rawhnson (1730), Bodlein Library, Oxford. 
 
 B. Pen-Copies of Older Documents. 
 
 No. 32 — Spencer (1726), Mr. E. T. Carson, Cincinnati, U.S.A. 
 33— Woodford (1728), Rev. A. F. A. Woodford, London. 
 34 — Supreme Council, No. 2 (1728), Golden Square, London. 
 35 — ^Melrose, No. 3 (1762), Old Lodge, Melrose. 
 36— Tunnah (1828), Mr. W. J. Hughan, Truro. 
 37— Wren (1852), Rev. A. F. A. Woodford, London. 
 
 C. Press-Copies, Extracts, or References. 
 
 No. 38 — Dermott (16th century). Grand Lodge Minutes (Ancients). 
 
 „ 39 — Dowland (17th century), In"GentlemansMagazine,"1815. 
 
 „ 40 — Dr. Plot (17th century). In " Natural History of 
 Staffordshire," 1686. 
 
 „ 41 — rHargrove (17th century), Hargrove's History of York. 
 
 „ 42 — ^Morgan (17th century). Grand Lodge Minutes (Ancients) . 
 
 „ 43 — ^Masons' Coy (17th century), In "Edinburgh Review,"1839. 
 
 „ 44 — Roberts (17th century). In Spencer's " Old Constitu- 
 tions," 1871. 
 
 „ 45 — Bricoe (17th century). In " Masonic Magazine," 1876. 
 
 „ 46 — Baker (17th century), Footnote by Dr. Rawlinson in the 
 copy of his MS., see No. 31. 
 
 J, 47 — Cole (17th century), Benjamin Cole's engraved editions, 
 etc., 1728. 
 
 ^, 48— Dodd (17th century), Mr. E. T. Carson, U.S.A. 
 
164 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 No. 49 — Harris, in theMinutesoftheBedfordLodge, London, 1809. 
 „ 50 — Batty Langley (18th century). In the " Builder's 
 
 Compleat Assistant, 1738. 
 „ 61 — Krause (18th century). Printed by Dr. Krause, Germany. 
 
 This list does not complete all the versions of the Old 
 Charges, but it includes all those of any importance that 
 have yet been discovered. 
 
 The oldest MS. — The HaUiwell — of the fourteenth 
 century, refers to " the olde bokys of Masonry," so that 
 whatever may be said as to the value and truth of 
 masonic tradition, it must be admitted to be very old 
 in itself. Taking all the circumstances of these manu- 
 scripts into account, the natural inference is, that 
 masonry, not simply in an operative sense, but, also, 
 more or less in a speculative and esoteric sense, has 
 existed from an early period. 
 
 The " Halliwell " is in a poetic form and was evidently 
 written by a priest. It does not, therefore, form one of 
 the " Old Charges,'' but all the same, is most interesting, 
 and has been evidently composed with a copy of the 
 " Old Charges " before the eye, or with the contents of 
 such clearly in the memory of the author. It begins with 
 a reference to Euclid and then, coming to England, says 
 " In tyme of good Kynge Adelstonus day " who " loved 
 thys Craft ful wel." 
 
 " He sende aboute 3'nto the londe 
 After alle the Masonus of the Crafte, 
 Asemble thenne he cowthe let make 
 Of dyvers lordis in here state, 
 Dukys, eriys and barnes, also, 
 Knychtys, sqwyeis and mony mo, 
 And the grete burges of that syte. 
 They were ther alle yn here degree : 
 Fyftene artyculus they ther sowchton. 
 And fyftene poyntys ther they wrochton." 
 
THE OLD BRITISH LODGES 165 
 
 The fifteen Articles for the " Mayster Mason " and 
 the fifteen points for the Craftsmen, we have no time 
 here to detail. They are quaint and curious, and full of 
 ancient lore. The Master is to be " stedefast, trusty, 
 and trwe," and " upright as a judge." His apprentice is 
 to be " of lawful blod," and " have hys lymes hole." 
 " No werke he undurtake, but tie conne bothe hytende 
 and make." The Craftsmen are " to love wel, God and 
 his holy churche and his mayster and felows," to help 
 one another by instructing those deficient in knowledge 
 and skiU ; to be true to the King and to be sworn to keep 
 all these points. It says : 
 
 " And alle schul sweve the same ogth, 
 Of the Masonus ben they luf, ben they loght 
 To alle these poyntes hyr byfore 
 That hath ben ordeynt by ful good lore." 
 
 In the various MSS. of the " Old Charges " the 
 traditions of Masonry are rehearsed in a most marvellous 
 fashion. Scriptural and secular names, such as Adam, 
 Noah, and Lamech, with Pythagorus and Hermes ; 
 Abraham and Euclid, King Solomon and Charles the 
 Second of France, St. Alban and King Athelstane, are all 
 linked up in a narrative of the progress of Freemasonry. 
 After this follows various rules or charges for Masters, 
 for Fellows, and for Apprentices. 
 
 (2) The Speculative Element in the Old Lodges. 
 
 Some of the regulations contained in these charges 
 are interesting. On the whole, they relate to the conduct 
 of masons. They are of a moral and religious character 
 and are, therefore, more speculative than operative in 
 their purpose. To go into the details of these would, 
 
166 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 however, not further the particular purpose at present 
 before us, which is, to get an idea of the general character 
 of these old lodges, and ascertain their relation to the 
 Freemasonry of the present day. We will, therefore, put 
 them aside, and proceed to enquire as to what extent 
 the speculative element, if any, existed in these Ancient 
 Lodges. 
 
 It was for a long time believed, and the belief is still 
 held by many, that prior to 1717, the mason lodges were 
 purely operative. On the other hand, writers such as 
 Anderson and Laurie pretended that these old lodges, 
 and lodges away back to the time of Noah, were the 
 same as the modern lodges, and they filled many pages 
 with childish tales unworthy of men of their position. 
 But while this is so, it is to be regretted that the later 
 historians, in their anxiety to avoid the errors of their 
 predecessors and to proceed only on sure ground, should 
 have run into the error of refusing to admit anything 
 that was not backed up by clear documentary evidence. 
 
 In history, as in everything else, circumstantial 
 evidence is not only admissable, it is often the only 
 evidence we possibly can get ; and where there exists 
 no direct proof for, or against, any theory or belief, then 
 a fair and reasonable inference, deduced from all the 
 circumstances of the case, ought to be allowed, and 
 ought to receive the benefit of a full discussion and a 
 fair judgment. 
 
 Taking the Old Charges and reading them over, no 
 one can fail to be impressed with the moral precepts they 
 contain, and how the speculative bulks over the purely 
 operative parts. In every case the mason is charged 
 first of all to be true to God, the King and to his fellows. 
 Stealing and vice are explicitly named to be avoided. 
 
THE OLD BRITISH LODGES 167 
 
 Falsehood and deceit are condemned, and the general 
 impression left after reading these ancient documents is, 
 that they are not those of a mere trades union or 
 operative guild. There is an element in them, apart 
 from and above the operative work, that refers to conduct 
 and morals, and it is in this, more than in anything else, 
 that their relationship with •modem masonry shows 
 itself. After all, what is the purpose of our speculative 
 system but to shape life and conduct to noble ends. 
 
 In these Charges several refer to what is called the 
 " Edwin legend." Now, whether the story of " King 
 Athelstane and his youngest sone " is true or not, the 
 words used regarding the son, in the Cook MSS. (British 
 Museum) are very significant. They are as follows, 
 " lemyd practyke of yt sciens to his speculatyf. For of 
 speculatyfe he was a Mastr and he lovyd well masonry 
 and masons. And he became a mason hymselfe." Here 
 is a document, written in the early part of the fifteenth 
 century, and according to experts, a copy of some older 
 document, which shows in the words used by the writer 
 that there were two kinds of masonry in his mind. It 
 may of course be said that the speculative here referred 
 to was the abstract theories of building, as distinct from 
 the practical, or of philosophy generally. But, if this is 
 so, how can we account for the expression, common in 
 some masonic quarters even to-day, of " theoretical and 
 practical masons," thereby meaning speculative and 
 operative masons. There may be a reasonable probability 
 of a King's son turning his mind to science, but unless 
 there was something else in masonry than merely rules 
 for operative workmen, then we cannot for a moment 
 understand the tale, if it be true ; nor even the invention 
 of the tale, if it be not true. 
 
168 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 Turning to the Records of these old Craft Lodges we 
 find in the minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh, under 
 date 8th June, 1600, that " Jhone Boiswell of Achin- 
 flek " was present at a meeting of the lodge and with 
 others " afifixit ye markis " as witness to an entry. On 
 the " 3rd day of Joulay, 1634 " the " Rt. Hon. My Lord 
 Alexander " is admitted Fellow of the Craft. In 1672, 
 Lord Cassillis is noted as being Deacon in Lodge Kil- 
 winning, and in the trial of the Rev. James Ainslie for 
 being a Freemason before the Presbytery of Kelso 
 (24th February, 1652), we find it recorded " that to their 
 judgement there is neither sinne nor scandale in that 
 word " (Masons' word) " because in the purest tymes of 
 this Kirke maisons haveing that word have been ministers ; 
 that maisons and men haveing that word have been, and 
 are, daylie in our sessions, and many professors haveing 
 that word are daylie admitted to the ordinances." 
 (Gould's History, chapter viii., p. 444.) 
 
 Elias Ashmole in his diary says in 1646, " I was made 
 a Freemason at Warrington in Lancashire, with Col. 
 Henry Mainwaring of Karincham in Cheshire." In this 
 lodge at Warrington, in 1646, the Warden was a Richard 
 Penketh, of Penketh, a landed proprietor ; and a most 
 exhaustive search has revealed the fact that nearly all 
 the names mentioned in connection with that lodge, at 
 that time, are names of gentlemen, landed proprietors, 
 and others, non-operatives. 
 
 All these records, masonic and non-maSonic, attest 
 the fact that from the beginning of the seventeenth 
 century non-operatives formed a large element in what 
 have been called " The Old Operative Lodges." Looking 
 at this evidence, it is but a fair and reasonable inference 
 that this speculative element must have existed in these 
 
THE OLD BRITISH LODGES 169 
 
 lodges for a considerable time prior to the dates of these 
 records, for there is nothing in them that indicate, in 
 any way, that the admission of non-operatives was an 
 innovation. Everything points the other way, for the 
 records state the facts as if they were of ordinary 
 occurrence and not unusual. This is further strengthened 
 by the remarkable finding of tJie Presbytery of Kelso, 
 in the case of the Rev. James Ainslie, referred to. In 
 that judgment it is said " in the purest tymes of this Kirke 
 maisons haveing that word have been ministers." Now, 
 the purest times referred to are xmdoubtedly those of 
 the Reformation period, viz., 1560, and there is little 
 doubt but that the Presbytery of Kelso had some good 
 grounds for making this statement. We have thus very 
 good evidence that in the middle of the sixteenth century, 
 at least, the speculative element existed in mason lodges. 
 Having arrived at this conclusion, the question arises, 
 why are these non-operatives members of this society ? 
 In history there are instances of bodies of men placing 
 themselves imder the wing of men in position and power. 
 But, invariably, we find that they did so for protection, 
 or gain, in some form or other ; and that they had, in 
 return, to give some service or benefit ; or that they had 
 some prior bond of kinship, S5mipathy, or interest 
 between them. Now, have we any indication of any 
 such services, or such prior bond, existing between the 
 operatives and the non-operatives of the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth centuries. On the one hand, what interest 
 had the lodges in admitting non-operatives, if they were 
 purely operative lodges ; and, on the other hand, what 
 were the inducements that caused the non-operatives 
 to join these lodges ? The lodges do not seem to have 
 needed, or received, any special protection from the 
 
170 SPECULATIVE MASONRY ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 non-operatives. They do not even seem to have received 
 anything to speak of in the shape of money contri- 
 butions. Jealous of their rights, very exclusive and 
 conservative as we find them in their statutes and laws 
 against cowans, etc., is it at all likely that these ancient 
 lodges would have thus received into their ranks, men 
 so entirely severed from them in many ways, had there 
 not been something more in these lodges than pure 
 operative masonry ? The protection of Kings and 
 statesmen might have served some operative object, 
 although we do not see any indication of that, but that 
 motive would not apply to the great majority of those 
 named in the minutes. 
 
 (3) Degrees in the Old Lodges. 
 
 There exists much difference of opinion amongst the 
 best authorities as to the question of degrees in the old 
 operative lodges. Bros. Hughan, Murray-Lyon, and 
 others, who have studied this question deeply and 
 earnestly, emphatically declare that there exists no 
 evidence of any but one degree in all the known records 
 of our Craft. They maintain that there was only one 
 simple ceremony, consisting of the reading of certain 
 charges and one oath, with, perhaps, some explanation 
 of a symbol or two, and that the degrees now known as 
 Fellow Craft and Master Mason had no existence prior 
 to the revival in 1717. 
 
 Br. Gould and the late Br. Speth and others, who 
 have also given the subject great and earnest study, are 
 of opinion that there were, at least, two ceremonies, or 
 degrees, in the old operative lodges, although, no doubt, 
 in a less elaborate form than now practised in the purely 
 
THE OLD BRITISH LODGES 171 
 
 speculative lodges of to-day. Both parties are at one 
 in this, that as far back as can be traced, and from a 
 very remote period probably, there were three distinct 
 grades of masons, not necessarily degrees as we know 
 them, viz. : Apprentice, Craftsman, and Master. Now, 
 where such eminent authorities on masonic history differ, 
 it is a very difficult thing for a iftere ordinary member to 
 venture to speak on the subject, and to hazard an 
 opinion. But there is a remarkable entry in the records 
 of the Haughfoot Lodge, under date 1702, that seems to 
 indicate that there were two ceremonies. The first part 
 of the minute is lost, as it is written on a preceding page, 
 now eimissing, of the minute book. The part remaining 
 is as follows :— " of entrie as the apprentice did leaving 
 out (the Common Judge). Then they whisper the word 
 as before, and the Master Mason grips his hand after the 
 ordinary way." What is here written " the Common 
 Judge " is no doubt (as has been pointed out) meant for 
 " the Common Gauge." This minute indicates that there 
 was more thatn one way of griping, viz., the " ordinary 
 way and some other way." 
 
 In various records of the old lodges there is 
 evidence that a mason was fined if, within a year after 
 taking an apprentice, he failed to " enter him and give 
 him his charge," and we find repeated references to 
 " the entering " of the apprentice. We also find that 
 there were charges of which we have MSS. preserved, 
 " for Masters and Fellows," in which the words occur 
 " that ye kepe all the councells of yor fellows truely," 
 and so on. From this evidence it would appear that 
 there were Apprentice charges, and charges for Fellows 
 and Masters, which plainly indicate at least two distinct 
 ceremonies, for, it is acknowledged by all that the 
 
172 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTIOK 
 
 reading of the charges formed a part, perhaps the 
 principal part, of a ceremony in these old lodges. 
 
 When an apprentice finished his term of service, he 
 usually travelled. He was a " journey-man." It is not 
 hkely in those days that he would carry with him 
 " lines " or papers to show that he had served his 
 apprenticeship. The simple and natural method would 
 be that he had certain signs, words, and tokens, or grips, 
 and these would necessarily require to be quite distinct 
 from those of an apprentice. We find tjiat he had to 
 undergo a severe trial and examination, and prove 
 himself before he was " passed." Of this we have 
 abundant proof in the old records. Now, unless there 
 were some distinct signs, words, and grips for the Crafts- 
 man who had successfully passed his examination, what 
 would hinder an apprentice who had served some years, 
 or all his years, but had not " passed," from pretending 
 to be a Fellow of the Craft ? It seems to us, notwith- 
 standing Bros. Hughan and Murray-Lyon, for whose 
 opinions we have the utmost respect, that there were 
 not only distinct charges, as is proved by the old 
 records, but that in the nature of things there would be, 
 also, distinct signs, words, and tokens, as indicated in the 
 old minute book of the Haughfoot Lodge. If this 
 inference is right, then it follows that there would be at 
 least two distinct ceremonies of some kind, one for the 
 Apprentice, and one for the Fellow-Craft. 
 
 On the point of the introduction of the third degree 
 by Drs. Anderson and Desaguliers into Freemasonry, 
 we would venture to differ from the opinion of Gould and 
 Murray-Lyon, who charge these brethren with fabricating 
 it, and foisting it upon the Order shortly after 1717. Our 
 contention is that, prior to that year, the Hiramic 
 
THE OLD BRITISH LODGES 173 
 
 legend was not confined to the Companionage of France, 
 but was common to the Masons of England, and Scotland 
 as well. Anderson and Desaguliers only put into a 
 ceremonial form a tradition well known to the Craft, 
 otherwise, we are convinced, they would never have been 
 able to introduce it. Especially would this be so in 
 Scotland. If kve reflect on th# peculiar characteristic 
 of the Scottish mind, its independence of thought, and 
 on the circumstances of the period, we can scarcely 
 credit the theory that a brand-new degree, altogether 
 strange in substance as well as in form, was accepted and 
 at once adopted in Scotland. The Scottish mind was 
 then full of the association of the Covenanters, and was 
 not likely to view favourably any ritual coming from 
 England. The ceremony, therefore, introduced by Dr. 
 Desaguliers into the Lodge Edinburgh, St. Mary's Chapel, 
 must surely have harmonised with some previous 
 ceremony, or, at least, with traditions familiar and 
 common to the members of the Craft. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 (1) Characteristic Points common to the Organisations 
 Considered. 
 
 From the somewhat imperfect, and limited survey of 
 the masonic historical field, which we have taken in the 
 preceding pages, there are certain characteristic points 
 of modern speculative masonry which we find common to 
 the several organisations we have had under consideration. 
 These are : — 
 
 (a) A secret mode of recognition by their members. — It 
 is, we think, beyond doubt, that in the ancient mys- 
 teries, the initiated possessed secret signs of recognition. 
 Mackey in his Lexicon says, " the members were in 
 possession of signs and tokens by which they were 
 enabled to recognise each other." Gould says, "that, in 
 all the mysteries, the initiated possessed secret signs of 
 recognition, is free from doubt," and he quotes several 
 ancient writers in substantiation of this statement. The 
 Roman Collegia, according to the Rev. A. F. A. Woodford 
 in his " Cyclopaedia," " had secret signs of recognition," 
 and Mackey says the members of the Collegia " were 
 enabled to recognise each other by secret signs." Gould, 
 so far as we have noticed, does not touch on this point in 
 connection with the Collegia. In view of the customs 
 
SUMMARY 175 
 
 prevalent previously in the mysteries, and afterwards 
 in the guilds, however, there can be little doubt but the 
 members of the Collegia had their secret signs and 
 tokens. Indeed, we can scarcely conceive the idea of a 
 secret society existing without a secret mode of recog- 
 nition. In the French Companionage, the German 
 Stein-Metzen, and the Old British Craft Lodges, secret 
 modes of recognition were a prominent point in their 
 organisation. That these were the same in detail in each 
 society is not at aU likely. But the remarkable coin- 
 cidences, already mentioned in connection with these 
 organisations, and particularly between the Stein-Metzen 
 and the Freemasons' secrets, as recorded in the case of 
 Herr Osterrieth, give reasonable grounds for the opinion 
 that, in the main essentials, they were similar, if not the 
 same. Even were they found to have been practically 
 the same, it would not be at all surprising when we 
 remember the striking resemblances in other respects 
 and that, in Medieval times, craftsmen often went from 
 one country to another in search of work and experience, 
 and had, no doubt, considerable intercourse with each 
 other in this way. 
 
 (b) An Oath of Secrecy. — On this point we do not need 
 to dwell. In aU the secret organisations, from the 
 ancient mysteries down to the present day, the oath of 
 secrecy has been and is an indispensable condition of 
 membership. 
 
 (c) Exclusive Meetings. — This naturally follows the 
 condition of secrecy for, of course, an oath of secrecy 
 would be useless unless all who were not members of 
 the society were excluded. 
 
 (d) Grades, or Degrees. — All the accounts we have of 
 the ancient mysteries agree in stating that there were 
 
176 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 two, or more, grades of initiates. To-day, we find the 
 same thing existing in our masonic fraternity. This we 
 naturally expect to find in secret institutions and, more 
 particularly, in those that profess to cultivate moral and 
 mental progress. Knowledge and Wisdom are attained 
 stfep by step and we naturally expect the classes to be 
 graded in every school. In the ancient mysteries the 
 Mystje were those " who had been initiated only into the 
 lesser mysteries, and were therefore permitted to proceed 
 no further than the vestibule, or porch, of the Temple " 
 (see Mackey's Lexicon). To-day, an Apprentice Free- 
 mason is, also, said to be in the Porch ; and the Appren- 
 tice lodge is, mystically, held in the Porch of King 
 Solomon's Temple. But neither in the ancient times, nor 
 in the Middle Ages, we feel sure, were there the number of 
 degrees that have, in comparatively recent years, sprung 
 up like mushrooms, claiming a connection with masonry. 
 There are fairly clear indications, however, that the 
 members of all the organisations we have been considering 
 were graded into two or three classes, or degrees, and 
 they appear to have had more sense on this point than 
 their modern successors. 
 
 (e) Ceremonies representing Life, Death, Immortality, 
 and 
 
 (f) Instruction by Symbol and Allegory. — ^These two 
 points, although distinct from each other, are so closely 
 related in idea that it will, perhaps, be an advantage to 
 consider them together. Carlyle says, in his " Sartor 
 Resartus " : "In the symbol proper, what we can call 
 a symbol, there is ever, more or less distinctly and 
 directly, some embodiment and revelation of the Infinite ; 
 the Infinite is made to blend itself with the Finite, to 
 stand visible, and, as it were, attainable there. By 
 
SUMMARY 177 
 
 symbols, accordingly, is man guided and commanded, 
 made happy, made wretched. He everywhere finds 
 himself encompassed with symbols, recognised as such 
 or not recognised : the universe is but one vast symbol 
 of God ; nay, if thou wilt have it, what is man himself 
 but a sjmibol of God ? . . . Let but the Godlike 
 manifest itself to sense ; let bufc eternity look, more or 
 less visibly, through the Time-Figure (Zeitbild) ! Then 
 is it fit that men unite there, and worship together before 
 such syinbol ; and so from day to day, and from age to 
 age, superadd to it new divineness." 
 
 The ceremonies of all the ancient mysteries, however 
 much corrupted they became in their later stages, taught 
 originally the doctrines of one God and the immortality 
 of the soul ; the inherent beauty of truth and virtue, the 
 ugliness of falseness and vice ; and the duty of mutual 
 love and benevolence. These doctrines and duties were 
 evidently inculcated by sjmibols and allegories. Some 
 of the noblest and most cultured minds of those times, 
 who were initiated, have left their impressions of 
 the ceremonies of the mysteries on record, in terms of 
 reverence and praise. The outstanding featmres of these 
 ceremonies were their representations of Sacrifice, Death, 
 and Immortality, and in this they correspond with 
 modern speculative masonry. We have no means of 
 knowing their details nor the exact symbols used in 
 them, whether masonic or otherwise. 
 
 It is generally admitted that there was a close connection 
 between the mysteries and the builders of the Temples in 
 which those were enacted. The training of the builders of 
 these sacred Temples would, no doubt.embrace some course 
 of moral and mental exercise. In a period so permeated 
 with symbolism, and with an intimate association with 
 
 N 
 
178 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 the mysteries, we can scarcely imagine that these builders 
 would not utilise the rich symbolism of their opefative 
 craft in the training and educating of their appr^tices. 
 Their operative work was stupendous in conception and 
 in execution. The very ruins of the ancienf temples 
 awaken awe and admiration. The architects of these 
 must have been highly trained, and we hold the work- 
 men, also, must have been trained and educated. 
 While we may have outstripped the ancients in a 
 more exact scientific knowledge of nature, we are not 
 in philosophy their superiors, and, perhaps, we are not 
 their equals. There is much to be said in favour of the 
 Rev. A. F. A. Woodford's theory that there was a kinship 
 " between the secret reception of the building con- 
 fraternities and the ' mysteries ' ; and that the peculiar 
 conditions of preparation, probation and reception, which 
 were inseparable from the ' mysteries,' were incorporated 
 into the customs of the Operative Masons." We find, 
 according to Dr. Mackey, that to " the Fraternity of 
 Dionysian Architects was exclusively confined the 
 privilege of erecting temples and other public buildings " ; 
 also, that they " were linked together by the secret ties 
 of the Dionysian Mysteries, into which they had all 
 been initiated." Dr. Mackey goes on to state that this 
 Fraternity had many striking resemblances to modem 
 masonry, that they were distinguished by the exercise 
 of charity ; by being divided into lodges governed 
 by Masters and Wardens ; by employing within their 
 ceremonies many of the implements of the Craft ; and by 
 having a universal language which served to distinguish 
 a brother in the dark as well as in the light, and which 
 imited them over India, Persia, and Syria. At the time 
 of the building of King Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem 
 
SUMMARY 179 
 
 the existence of this Fraternity in Tyre, according to 
 the same author, " is universally admitted, and Hiram, 
 the widow's son . . . was, doubtless, one of its 
 members." The Rev. A. C. L. Arnold says, with 
 reference to the Cabirian Mysteries, " These rites were 
 spread through all the cities of Syria. Hiram, the King 
 of Tyre, was imdoubtedly % High Priest of the 
 Mysteries." The grounds for these statements the 
 authors do not give, but, being men of learning, they 
 have no doubt something to go on. All we can say is, 
 there is nothing that we know, or see, improbable in 
 these statements. 
 
 Now, tradition is a thing you cannot kill. It fills a 
 void in the human heart and mind, especially in periods 
 where men live in semi-barbarous conditions, as did the 
 Masons of the Middle Ages. Their leisure hours would, 
 no doubt, be filled up with song and story of the past, 
 and their imaginations delighted with fabulous descrip- 
 tions of the great achievements of departed heroes. 
 It is impossible to imagine that, with the breaking up of 
 the Collegia, everything connected with the past was 
 destroyed. In the minds of the craftsmen the traditions 
 of their craft would Unger. Along with a knowledge of 
 the work, its various legends and traditions would, no 
 doubt, be handed down, and thus later on, we find in 
 connection with the masonic craft the various extra- 
 ordinary traditions contained in the Old Charges. These, 
 like traditions generally, are no doubt, more or less 
 incorrect in detail, yet they probably are true in general 
 substance, and not such exaggerations as we would at 
 first sight suppose. With these traditions and legends 
 there would doubtless be transmitted from the ancient 
 mysteries a certain amount of what we know as 
 
180 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 speculative masonry — or symbolic moral teaching, and 
 in this way the correspondences existing between 
 modern masonry and the ancient mysteries may be 
 rationally explained. 
 
 (g) Tradition connected with Operative Building and 
 especially with that of King Solomon's Temple. — Resem- 
 blances between societies far separated by space and 
 time are not uncommon in history. Similar conditions 
 and environments cause similar forms to develop and, 
 hence no doubt, the reason for the very many theories 
 as to the origin of Freemasonry. But, in the absence 
 of direct proof, either for or against a theory, the 
 resemblances may be so striking and so many, as to 
 produce a clear conviction of identity, even where the 
 names are different and the connection has not been 
 established. Br. Gould places, and we think rightly 
 places, great importance on the possession of a common 
 tradition. The traditions of the building of the Temple 
 at Jerusalem are common to the Companionage, the 
 Stein-Metzen, and the Old Craft Lodges, and there is a 
 strong similarity in the character of these traditions. 
 They could only come down from ancient times, through 
 the Roman Collegia. The Tyrian workmen and others 
 engaged at the Temple when they dispersed at its 
 completion, would, no doubt, carry these traditions with 
 them, and the connection between the builders and the 
 mysteries in the Collegia,.of which we have here and there 
 a glimpse, would produce the singular mixture that we 
 find in " The Old Charges " of Hebrew and Classic 
 names in connection with the Craft. If traditions 
 in common count for anything, it seems that the 
 Companionage of France, the Stein-Metzen of Germany, 
 and the Old British Craft l^odges, must have had a 
 
SUMMARY 181 
 
 common origin, and that must have been the Roman 
 Collegia. It is the only parent visible on the pages of 
 history, and it forms the connecting link between the 
 ancient mysteries, the builders of King Solomon's 
 Temple and our modern speculative masonry. 
 
 There are several other cha^cteristic points, such as 
 the exclusion of women, no compulsion to join, or to 
 remain in, the society ; perfect equality of membership, 
 enquiry into the character of candidates for admission, 
 formal rites of initiation, etc. But these details the 
 diligent student will find comprehensively dealt with in 
 Br. Gould's History, and there he will find ample 
 recompense for careful study. 
 
 (2) Conclusion. 
 
 What, then, is the conclusion we come to in connection 
 with the origin of Free or Speculative Masonry ? It is 
 a subject on which no one can presume to dogmatise. 
 The only clear point is that, since 1717, its organisation 
 has, with certain exceptional developments and modi- 
 fications, been practically the same. Previous to that 
 time, our information is hazy in character and limited in 
 details ; and the further back we go the less certain the 
 pathway becomes, until it gets lost in the mists of 
 antiquity. 
 
 The propagation of life in Nature appears to 
 present an analogy to the propagation of truth in the 
 world of Humanity. Life is ever seeking new environ- 
 ments and more favourable conditions in which to 
 multiply and develop. Truth is ever seeking fresh fields, 
 in which to grow and spread itself abroad. With both, 
 new forms are constantly being evolved and, in the 
 
182 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS EVOLUTION 
 
 straggle for existence, it is the fittest that survive. Thus, 
 the truths contained in the symbolism of the ancient 
 mysteries and inherent in the symbolism of the work 
 and instruments of masonry, may have been carried 
 down through the Collegia, and the Guilds to the Old 
 Operative Lodges. In the testing and trying circum- 
 stances of the Middle Ages, and by the natural influences 
 of time, some of the forms would be modified, some 
 would die, and those only would survive that had 
 the vital strength of eternal truth. When the fresh 
 influences of the Reformation period arrived, and the 
 spirit of intellectual freedom stirred the hearts and the 
 minds of men, the symbohc significance and beauty still 
 remaining in the rude ceremonies of the masonic craft 
 would attract attention. Gradually, no doubt, but surely, 
 the ceremonies would evolve from rude elementary into 
 higher and more advanced forms. There would probably 
 be a struggle, during this period of new birth, between 
 the old school and the new, until the latter triumphed 
 in the formation of the Grand Lodge in 1717. 
 
 Since the establishment of the speculative system in 
 that period, there has been a slow but gradual develop- 
 ment of the symbolism of the Craft, and the struggle 
 still goes on. There are many errors in our ceremonies 
 to be corrected, and not a few rude customs to be 
 aboUshed, before our lodges can become what they ought 
 to be, schools, in which men may learn the ways of 
 right living and high thinking. The convival element 
 has hitherto occupied too prominent a position in it, 
 and has to be subordinated to its right place. Refresh- 
 ment for a man is not meant for mere selfish enjoyment, 
 or animal gratification. Its function is to cheer and 
 encourage him on the road to something better, to draw 
 
SUMMARY 183 
 
 out love and fellowship, in rational and pleasant inter- 
 course; and thus brace and strengthen him for true 
 labour. The beautiful sjonbolism of our Craft has not 
 yet got full nor free play. Our Masters have to under- 
 stand th|at they must take pains to learn, ere they presume 
 to teach ; and our members have to understand that 
 passing through " degrees " does not make them masons, 
 in the proper and higher sense of the term 
 
SPECULATIVE MASONRY 
 PART III.— ITS LANDMARKS 
 
" To the solid ground 
 Of nature trusts the mind that builds for aye." 
 
 — Wordswortk. 
 
 " Men in the street and mart 
 Felt the same kinship of the human heart 
 That makes them, in the face of flame and flood. 
 Rise to the meaning of true brotherhood." 
 
 — A nonymous. 
 
 " When you know, to know that you know ; 
 And when you do not know, to know that you do 
 Not know — that is true knowledge." 
 
 — "Confucius," by Lionel Giles, M.A. 
 
 " Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and 
 attaches her curse on all inaction." — Goethe. 
 
 " The proof of a system, the guarantee of its truth, lies not 
 in its beginning, but in its end ; not in its foundation-stone, but 
 in its key-stone." — Rothe. 
 
PART III.— ITS LANDMARKS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 
 
 (1) What Landmarks are. 
 
 Among masons there is no word more common, and less 
 understood, than that of " landmarks." The importance 
 of knowing these is acknowledged by all ; a knowledge 
 of them is held but by few. As ignorance is the prolific 
 mother of evil and the sure barrier of progress, so, no 
 doubt, the prevalent ignorance of them within our Order 
 is a hindrance to its well-being and advancement. In a 
 period like the present, full of rapid changes and 
 unexpected developments, correct conceptions of our 
 landmarks are especially needed. Everywhere within 
 our Craft we see the stirrings and the strivings 
 of a new life seeking an enlarged environment. This 
 energy has to be guided that it may not dissipate itself 
 in building sand-castles, which the fluctuating tides of 
 life will wash away ; and that it may be conserved, 
 concentrated and consecrated in building up the Great 
 Temple of Humanity — for which end the mason lodge 
 exists. 
 
 A knowledge of the landmarks, it seems to us, will be 
 of service in guiding the new forces which have been 
 
188 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 developed in our midst, and this consideration induces 
 the choice of this subject at the present time; in the 
 hope that we may be helpful to our less experienced 
 brethren, in forming in their minds some definite idea 
 of these landmarks; in guiding their energies towards 
 much needed reforms, and in preserving the funda- 
 mental principles and features of our ancient institution. 
 
 In all ages stones, pillars, or other things have been 
 erected to show the boundary lines between different 
 countries, between the territories of different tribes, 
 and the possessions of different individuals. These 
 stones were called landmarks and, as their preservation 
 was of importance, severe penalties were attached to 
 their illegal removal and alteration. 
 
 A landmark had not only to be put up, it had also to 
 be recognised as such. This recognition formed the 
 essence of its authority, and the longer it remained, the 
 more sacred it became. 
 
 In the course of time, a change in the boundary line 
 between the possessions of two individuals, or of two 
 nations, becoming mutually desirable, the old landmarks 
 were removed and new landmarks were erected. 
 
 It was not necessary that a landmark, in the first place, 
 should be marked by official authority. It often happened 
 that the place was, for generations, a mutually recognised 
 boundary line by the interested parties, and the setting 
 up of the official landmark afterwards was simply the 
 legal form of recognising an established fact. 
 
 In speculative masonry, landmarks are certain 
 established usages and customs, occupying the position 
 which usage and custom do in a community. Politically, 
 these are termed " common law " ; masonically, they 
 are termed " landmarks." 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 189 
 
 As in common law, no usage nor custom can overrule 
 the principle of Equity ; so, in masonry, no custom nor 
 usage can overrule the fundamental principle of the Square. 
 
 Common law in a community has all the force of 
 statute law, and the landmarks in masonry have all the 
 force of a Grand Lodge Law. 
 
 But, while a landmark must b» an established usage 
 or custom, it does not follow that an estabhshed usage 
 or custom is a landmark. It must, in addition, perform 
 the function of a landmark ; that is, mark out, more or 
 less clearly, a boundary or dividing line between two 
 territories or possessions. This is an important point 
 and should be carefully noted, and all the more so, as 
 some writers on the subject have failed to notice the 
 distinction and have taken landmarks to be synonymous 
 with usage and custom. A custom may have existed 
 from time immemorial among masons, and it may 
 continue to the end of time, and never become a landmark. 
 For instance, it has doubtless been a custom with masons, 
 from the time of Moses, to blow their noses, but that 
 custom does not make the blowing of the nose a landmark. 
 It is not the custom in itself, it is the purpose it serves — 
 the function it performs — ^that makes it a landmark. The 
 stone set up at the boundary of a country may, in kind 
 and character, be quite common. It is the purpose it 
 serves that gives to it importance, and entitles it to the 
 name of landmark. 
 
 From these observations, the landmarks in masonry 
 may be defined as certain established usages and customs 
 that mark out the boundary lines of the masonic world, in 
 its internal divisions and in its external relations to the 
 outer world. 
 
 To pursue this enquiry, it is necessary to keep in 
 
190 SPECULATIVE MASONRY ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 view the motive idea and the process of the evolution of 
 masonry. Any one acquainted with it, if at all of a 
 thoughtful disposition, must have observed that its 
 organisation is remarkably well adapted to the object it 
 has in view. This adaptation has been the result of 
 gradual growth, and has not been the conception of any 
 individual, age, or race. 
 
 In the sixteenth century the great religious reformation 
 took place in Europe. Religious forms had become so 
 degraded, and so overlaid with superstition that the 
 human mind revolted from them. ^The demand for 
 reformation set up a spirit of enquiry and freedom that 
 spread itself in every direction. The light of knowledge 
 moved on the face of the deep of humanity, and a new 
 epoch in history began. Out of old forms and dogmas — 
 theological and scientific — higher and nobler forms were 
 evolved, and human thought and life ascended to a 
 higher plane. 
 
 It is in this period the old Craft mason-lodges 
 first appear in history proper. Previous to that, our 
 knowledge of them is of a very meagre and vague 
 character, but, immediately after the Reformation, we 
 find them with non-operative, as well as operative 
 members ; and, in some cases, with the majority of their 
 members non-operative. It is scarcely possible to believe 
 that, amid the commotion and upheaval produced by 
 the Reformation in Europe, the influence of its spirit did 
 not penetrate and make itself felt within the inner circle 
 of these old lodges. It seems more than probable that, 
 during the interval between the Reformation and the 
 beginning of the modern organisation in 1717, there 
 was a gradual evolution of the present speculative, 
 out of the old operative, system ; and that the spirit of 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 191 
 
 the Reformation was an important factor in this 
 evolution. 
 
 Although, in almost every detail, the masonic order 
 has undergone changes from time to time, there is one 
 point on which it has never changed — the central 
 motive idea of its existence — the building of a 
 divine Temple and, for that en#, the formation of a 
 human lodge. This idea is no longer that of a material 
 Temple. It has become idealised and spiritualised. It 
 is no longer of stone, nor is its glory that of King 
 Solomon's at Jerusalem. It is a Temple more glorious 
 still — an Ideal Temple of ennobled humanity, wrought 
 into perfect form and made a dwelling-place for The 
 Most High. 
 
 This motive idea has created round about itself our 
 present organisation, and what we call the landmarks 
 are certain customs which have been formed and 
 established in the process. To be understood, therefore, 
 aU our landmarks must be viewed in relation to the 
 primary motive idea of the Order ; and it may be held, 
 as an inf aUible guide in this enquiry, that anything not 
 in harmony with it cannot be a landmark in masonry. 
 
 As of old, the first thing towards the erection of a 
 sacred structure was the formation of a lodge, or work- 
 shop, in which the material was prepared and wrought 
 into form fit for the building ; so, to-day, the first thing 
 in speculative masonry is the formation of a human 
 lodge, in which to prepare the material for the Ideal 
 Temple. 
 
 The conditions of human society at present are not 
 in harmony with the masonic ideal. Hence it is necessary 
 to exclude " the outer world," and to create a new 
 environment. This inner world, or lodge, embodies an 
 
192 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 ideal of universal brotherhood and peace. It has east 
 and west, north and south, to indicate the world-wide, 
 all-embracing, character of its purpose. Its principles of 
 union are not those that bind ordinary human society, 
 viz.: selfish instinct, interest, and force — they are Love, 
 Benevolence and Truth. 
 
 The idea presented to us in masonic symboUsm, is that 
 the material for the Temple should be selected from the 
 quarries of ordinary humanity and, in the lodge, worked 
 into the form suited for the building. By degrees, these 
 living stones are prepared and shaped until they reach 
 the stage of immortal mastership, wherein the rough 
 desires and earthly passions die and disappear, and then, 
 like perfect ashlars, they are raised to their place in the 
 great Temple. 
 
 (2) The Divisions of the Landmarks.. 
 
 By some masonic authors, the landmarks have been 
 detailed in a most extraordinary manner. Laurence 
 Dermott in his " Ahiman Rezon " (1756), and a century 
 afterwards, Dr. Mackey in his "Encyclopaedia," set down, 
 as landmarks, things which investigation shows could not 
 possibly be such. For a long time, many of the landmarks 
 mentioned by well-known writers were not merely verbal 
 inaccuracies, they were often deceptive inventions. The 
 idea seems to have possessed those authors that fictitious 
 tinsel would glorify the Order, and that the outer world 
 would accept the gilt as pure gold. It is only in recent 
 times that this posing before the public eye has been 
 abandoned, and that investigations into the history of 
 masonry have been conducted on real honest lines. 
 Brothers Hughan, Murray-Lyon, Gould, and others, by 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 193 
 
 their careful researches and unswerving loyalty to truth, 
 have established a new school of masonic literature 
 that commands respect, where the older school received 
 the contempt which it richly deserved. 
 
 But while we thus condemn those grandiloquent 
 writers who propagated^ without investigation, monstrous 
 fables as masonic history, let us tiot make the mistake 
 of refusing to give to rational inference its just place. We 
 know in part only, even of those things passing before 
 our eyes. We cannot see all round, and there are things, 
 the existence of which we can only infer. There are 
 many things in history of whose existence we have little 
 proof. Is it not as legitimate for the historian to construct 
 a scene, or a series of events, from one fact, as a 
 physiologist to construct an animal from one bone ? It 
 altogether depends on the knowledge and ability of the 
 historian, and we accept his theory in proportion to our 
 faith in him. The dry bones of facts are, sometimes, 
 quite as poor fare as the gaudy plumes of imagination, 
 and the historian who contents himself with the one, 
 creates the appetite for the other. 
 
 The landmarks naturally group themselves into Four 
 Main Divisions, each of which contains three sections. 
 These Divisions and Sections are as follows : — 
 
 First Division. 
 
 Usages that mark the Masonic from the Outer World. 
 
 Section A. A secret mode of recognition by its 
 members. 
 B. The tyling of its lodge meetings. 
 „ C. The qualifications of its candidates, 
 o 
 
194 speculative masonry — its landmarks 
 
 Second Division. 
 
 Usages that mark the Degrees of Masonry. 
 
 Section A. A secret mode of recognising the 
 members of one degree from those 
 of another. 
 
 B. The tyhng of the meetings of a higher 
 
 degree from the members of a lower 
 one. 
 „ C. The conditions of advancement from 
 one degree to another. 
 Third Division. 
 
 Usages that mark the various Ceremonies. 
 
 Section A. The principal points in " Opening " 
 and in " Closing " a lodge. 
 ,, B. The principal points in " Entering," 
 " Passing," and " Raising." 
 
 C. The principal points in Consecration, 
 
 Installation, Foundation-stone Lay- 
 ing, and in Burial Service. 
 Fourth Division. 
 
 Usages that mark Official Powers and Duties and 
 Private Rights and Duties. 
 
 Section A. The powers and duties of the Grand 
 
 Master, and Grand Officers, and of 
 
 the Grand Lodge. 
 
 B. The powers and duties of the Master, 
 
 and Officers, and of the Lodge. 
 
 C. The rights and duties of private 
 
 members. 
 It is not possible here to deal with the landmarks 
 in all their details. We propose rather to make a few 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 195 
 
 observations on those of them which appear to be of 
 greatest interest and a knowledge of which would be 
 most likely to prove useful. 
 
 (3) First Division — Section A . — A secret mode of 
 
 Recognition by its members. 
 
 • 
 
 These are usually termed signs, words, and grips, or 
 tokens. Murray-Lyon says (p. 22), " that a century after 
 the promulgation of the Schaw Statutes (1598) ' the 
 mason word ' was wont occasionally to be imparted by 
 individual brethren in a ceremony extemporised according 
 to the ability of the initiator. The word is the only secret 
 that is ever alluded to in the minutes of Mary's Chapel, 
 or in those of Kilwinning, Atcheson's Haven, or Dunblane, 
 or any other that we have examined of a date prior to 
 the erection of the Grand Lodge. Liberty to ' give the 
 mason word ' was the principal point in dispute between 
 Mary's Chapel and the Journeyman Lodge, which was 
 settled by ' decreet arbitral ' in 1715." 
 
 But that this "word" was more than a word, is 
 evident from the expression "the secrets of the mason 
 word," which is found in the minute book of Lodge 
 Dunblane, and in the information contained in the 
 minutes of Lodge Haughfoot in 1707^ that the word 
 was accompanied by a grip. Besides this, it is a well 
 ascertained fact that there were signs, words, and grips 
 used as forms of recognition by the members of guilds 
 at a very early period in the Christian era. In the 
 Harleian MS. 2054, date, said to be, 1665, in the 
 form of the oath there are these words: "There is 
 seural ' (several) ' words and signs of a Freemason to 
 be revailed, &c." Here, the words and signs are said 
 
196 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 to be several, which means, one would naturally 
 suppose, more than one word and more than one sign. 
 In the Swalwell Lodge Penal Orders No. 8, it is enacted 
 " If any be found not faithfully to keep and maintain 
 the three fraternal signs and all points of fellowship and 
 principal matters relating to the secret Craft, each 
 offence, penalty 10 — 10 — 00." In Dr. Plot's 
 account of the Freemasons 1686 A.D., we find the 
 following, "they proceed to the admission of their 
 Candidates which chiefiy consists in the communication 
 of certain secret signs, whereby they are known to one 
 another all over the nation." In the Diary of Mr. John 
 Aubrey, R.S.S., under date 1691, we have the following 
 entry, "They (the Freemasons) are known to one 
 another by certyn signs and watch-words." "The 
 manner of their adoption is very formal and with an 
 oath of secrecy." 
 
 From aU these references, we think it is apparent that 
 " the word " referred to in the minutes of the Scottish 
 Lodges really meant the signs, words, and grips, or 
 tokens. These, no doubt, were the secrets of the 
 mason word referred to in the minute book of Lodge 
 Dunblane. We are all famihar with the use of the 
 word " word " in an extensive way. " His word is as 
 good as his bond." " Your word of honour." " I sent 
 him word of John's coming." In this way we do not 
 mean one word. We also refer to Scripture as the " word 
 of God " and the Prophets of old and the Psalmists, in 
 hundreds of instances, spoke of " the word of the Lord." 
 Then there is the mystic sense of the " word " as used 
 by the Hebrews and also by the Greeks. The Caldee 
 Paraphrasts, the most ancient of Jewish writers, used 
 the word " MEMRA," which signifies the word, in those 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 197 
 
 places where Moses puts the name Jehovah*. The 
 evangehst John, whose mental atmosphere was dominated 
 by Greek culture, begins his gospel with the phrase, " In 
 the beginning was the word and the word was with God, 
 and the word was God." But we must not proceed further 
 on this point, although it offers a most tempting field for 
 the masonic student. It is too extensive to be dealt 
 with in any other way than by a specieJ paper, after 
 special study. In what has been said, however, we think 
 it wiU be readily admitted that the expression " the 
 mason word " used in the old records of Scottish Lodges 
 referred to a great deal more than one word, and, in all 
 probability, meant the whole arcana of the Craft. It is 
 evident, also, that as far back as written history can take 
 us, this landmark of a " Secret mode of recognition by its 
 members," was as prominent then, as it is to-day, in our 
 Order. But, while this is the case, so far as the landmark 
 generally is concerned, it does not follow that in its 
 details it is the same. It occupies the same position, 
 but the inevitable change that takes place in ever3H;hing 
 on earth has altered and modified its form, just as a 
 stone landmark would have changed in the course of 
 centuries. As a matter of fact, we know that our words, 
 signs, and tokens have been changed and modified, and 
 some of these changes have been made within the last 
 forty years. But the landmark still stands, as of old, 
 marking off the masonic from the outer world. 
 
 This landmark is an indispensable one. As the 
 members of our Order live and mingle with human society 
 generally, it is necessary to have means whereby they 
 may know and distinguish each other from those who 
 
 ^ Cruden's Concordance, Students' edition. 
 
198 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 are not members. The mode of recognition is secret 
 not by any desire to be secret. It is so by necessity. 
 Without this landmark, how could the plan of masonry 
 be carried out ? If the Temple is to be built the stones 
 must be selected, and separated from the rock in the 
 quarries. They have to be wrought into shape in 
 accordance with the plan, and have their distinguishing 
 mark, that they may be known and built together. It 
 must be this, or the whole plan and constitution of the 
 Order must be altered. 
 
 (4) First Division — Section B. — The Tyling of the Lodge. 
 
 The next leading landmark is that of the tyling of 
 lodge meetings. Tyling is the isolating of the lodge from 
 the outer world, and the reason that underlies it is the 
 same as that we have referred to in the previous section. 
 If the meetings were not " tyled " from non-masons, 
 the secret mode of recognition could not be kept secret, 
 and the plan of masonry could not be carried out. That 
 plan, as previously mentioned, makes the lodge the 
 workshop, where the selected material is to be worked 
 into the form fitted for the Temple. It is, under these 
 circumstances, essential that all unsuitable, unselected 
 material should be excluded, and that all who are 
 admitted should be able and willing to engage in the 
 work. The " tyUng " of a lodge is equivalent to the 
 notice you see at the entrance of almost every workshop, 
 " No admittance except on business." It is perfectly 
 reasonable that every precaution should be taken to 
 exclude opponents who would destroy the work and 
 idlers who would hinder it. The workshop must be for 
 workers. The lodge must be for masons. 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 199 
 
 The tyling of a lodge consists of three Cares. (1) 
 Tyling from the outer world. (2) Tyling from within. 
 (3) Tyling from the neglect and incapacity of office- 
 bearers. 
 
 The exercise of these Cares in the Opening Ceremony 
 might, perhaps, receive more attention than it generally 
 does from the masters of lodges. On this point the 
 Grand Lodge, through the Provincial Grand Lodges, 
 might effect a much needed reform. Before beginning 
 this useful work, however, the Grand Lodge would be 
 well advised to inform itself thoroughly as to the aim 
 and object of these Cares, and the best manner of 
 exercising them. 
 
 (5) First Division — Section C. — The qualifications of 
 Candidates. 
 
 The present qualifications are : "A man, free born, 
 sound in mind and body, of full age, and under the tongue 
 of good report." Those who are debarred, or disqualified, 
 are "A woman, a man in dotage, or non-age, an atheist, 
 a hbertine, and a fool, or imbecile." 
 
 On the vexed question of women being eligible in the 
 old lodges for membership there has been considerable 
 discussion. The oldest of the York MSS. (No. 5 in 
 Gould's series) reads in describing the manner of taking 
 an oath, " teneat Librum ut iUe veil ill6," etc., which 
 means " held the book and he or they," etc. In MS. 
 No. 25, however, which is a translation of the above 
 Latin version, the " he or they " appears erroneously as 
 "he or shee." Referring to the old guilds, Gould says 
 (Vol. i, p. 90), " Not one out of a hundred but recruited 
 their ranks from both sexes." There are many instances 
 
200 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 where women were freely admitted to membership in 
 these guilds, but there are no records of such admissions 
 into masonic lodges. It is true, in the minutes of " Mary's 
 Chapel Lodge " it is written, under date 17th April, 1683, 
 " The whilk day, in presence of Thomas Hamiltone, 
 deakone, and John Harrvy, warden, and remanant 
 Masters of the mason craft, in corroboratione of the 
 former practise, quhich was of use and wont amongst 
 them, it is statute and ordained that it shall be in no 
 tjnne, or in no wayes, leithsome for a widow to undertake 
 workes or to imploy jurneymen in any maner or way 
 
 providing alwayes that they bespeake some 
 
 freeman by whose advyse and concurrance the workes 
 shall be undertaken," etc. This is the only known record 
 in lodge minutes of a woman being admitted to the 
 privileges of our Craft, and, so far as we are aware, there 
 is no evidence of any admittance to membership, or to 
 a knowledge of the secrets within the lodge. The 
 privileges here granted were purely operative, and the 
 groimds on which they were granted were that her 
 husband had been a member of the Craft, just as 
 to-day a lodge grants an annuity to a widow, whose 
 claim is based on the membership of her husband. 
 Some writers have expressed the opinion that women 
 were admitted into the old operative lodges, but so 
 far they have not advanced a single proof in support 
 of their theory. On the whole, we may safely assume 
 that, so far as the masonic lodges were concerned, " the 
 lovely dears," as Bums called them, have never graced 
 the tyled precincts of the real mason lodge. 
 
 The qualification of " freeborn," is referred to in the 
 old MSS. In modern times, especially in America, the 
 application of this landmark has been much discussed. 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 201 
 
 A man may have been bom a slave, yet attain his freedom 
 and possess all the qualifications necessary for making 
 a good mason, why should he be excluded ? Let us see 
 what the old MSS. say on this point. 
 
 The oldest of the British MSS. is acknowledged by the 
 
 highest authorities to be that known as the Halliwell 
 
 MS., said to have been written»in the 14th century, and 
 
 apparently composed from the earlier writings. In the 
 
 5th and 7th of the Articles of that MS. it is enacted : 
 
 " The prentes be of lawful blod," and " have his l5mies 
 
 (limbs) hole." " Schal no thef accept, lest hyt wolde 
 
 turne the Craft to schame." In the Harleian MS. 
 
 (17th Century) we find, " That no p'son shal bee accepted 
 
 a Freemason, but such as are of able body, honest 
 
 parentage, good reputacon and observes of the Laws of 
 
 the Land." The Buchanan MS. (17th Century) among 
 
 its Charges contains the following (4) " And, also, that 
 
 noe Master nor Fellow take any Apprentice to bee 
 
 allowed to bee his Apprentice any longer than seven 
 
 years and the Apprentice to bee able of birth and limbs 
 
 as hee ought to bee." (5) " And also that noe Master, 
 
 nor Fellow, shall take any allowance, to bee allowed to 
 
 make any Freemason without the consent of sixe, or 
 
 five, att the least, of his Fellows, and that they bee free 
 
 borne and of good kindred and not a bondman eind that 
 
 hee have his right limbs as a man ought to have." In 
 
 the Edinburgh Kilwinning MS. (17th Century) we find 
 
 almost an exact copy of the foregoing. It runs as follows, 
 
 " And also that no Master nor Fellow take no prentice 
 
 but for the term of sevin years. And that the prentice 
 
 be able of birth ; that is to say, free born ; and whose 
 
 limbs as a man ought to be." Further on, this is 
 
 amplified in this way, "And that he, which shall be made 
 
202 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 a Mason, be able in all manner of degrees ; that is to say, 
 free born, come of good kindred, true, and no bondman. 
 And also, that he have his right limbs, as a man ought 
 to have." In the Old Minute book of the lodge Atcheson 
 Haven of date 17th May, 1666, we have " that prenteis 
 be able of birth and linage as he ought to be." " And 
 they that sail be Masones be free born, not a bondman, 
 but of good kindred and have his lyne (" limbs " ) as a 
 man ought to have." 
 
 There are many such records which might be quoted, 
 all varying, more or less, in detail, but, in substance, 
 essentially the same. As Br. Gould wisely observes in 
 his history, " the laws for the guidance of the Craft in 
 King Athelstan's reign, or later, were not intended to be 
 final, but, alterable according to the necessities of the 
 Craft, provided always that the spirit of the society was 
 preserved ; hence, the regulations which enacted that 
 the candidates for masonry must be free born and 
 have their limbs whole, were no more absolute and 
 unalterable than were those which, required an apprentice 
 to serve seven years, etc." 
 
 There is a meaning in connection with the word " Free 
 born," which, so far as we have observed, has not yet been 
 advanced. May it not be " Free-borne " ? Both words 
 have the same root and, three hundred years ago, were 
 written and probably were pronounced in the same way. 
 The word "borne" is the past participle of "bear," 
 to carry, and it means carried, or impelled, forward. 
 Thus, the candidate must be " borne " or " born " into 
 our Order freely ; and this harmonises with the condition 
 implied in the well-known phrase, " his own free wiU and 
 accord." We throw this remark out, not as a settled 
 opinion, but for consideration. 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 203 
 
 Of Full Age. — We should note particularly that this 
 landmark does not define the age. This is the case with 
 landmarks generally. They leave the details to the 
 discretion of each period and country, according to 
 circumstances. In this country, until a very recent 
 period, the age was 18 years. Now it is 21. In some 
 countries, however, the age is ^8. In England in 1721 
 the General Regulations enacted that " No man under the 
 age of 25 is to be made a Mason." The age is now 21. 
 Under these circumstances, the practice of obligating a 
 candidate not to be present at the initiation of any one 
 under the age of 21 years, is most reprehensible. It 
 debars him, when visiting a lodge working under a 
 constitution in which the fuU age is 18, from remaining 
 during the ceremony of initiation, if the candidate is 
 under 21 years. The Grand Lodge, to-morrow, might 
 revert to the 18 years, what then would be the position 
 of members who have been obligated not to be present 
 at the initiation of any person under 21 years ? 
 " Verbum sat Sapienti." 
 
 Regarding the question of age, the Old MSS. do not, 
 so far as we have noticed, particularise. They, in some 
 cases, use the phrase " of full age," but nothing beyond 
 that. Each lodge, in the old days, evidently settled this 
 point for itself, as it settled everything not specified in 
 the Old Charges. The framers of the old rules were very 
 wise in many respects. They left a certain elasticity in 
 these so that they might be adjusted to varied circum- 
 stances and conditions. In this, we moderns, are apt 
 to be very foolish and, in trying to make a cast-metal law 
 to fit all circumstances and conditions, are very apt to get 
 one that fits none. Let us remember that wisdom allows 
 for variation, and nature never tolerates dead uniformity. 
 
204 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 Under the Tongue of Good Report. — It is to be 
 regretted that this landmark is not more carefully 
 observed and respected. We are often more anxious 
 about the fees, than about the character of the applicant, 
 and forget that there are men who are no more capable of 
 being good masons, than a pudding-stone is qualified 
 to become a perfect ashlar. The operative mason cannot 
 make a bad stone good, and hence he carefully selects 
 his material. Masonry does not pretend to change a bad 
 man into a good one, but it will make a good man 
 better, and it requires a good man to be a good mason. 
 
 (6) Second Division — Section C. — The Conditions of 
 Advancement. 
 
 The word " degree " is not to be understood as meaning, 
 when applied to ancient times, what it generally implies 
 to us to-day. It may, or may not, have been associated 
 with special ceremonies and secrets, but it may be taken 
 as absolutely certain that, if so, they were not as we 
 have them now. In connection with the old records the 
 Apprentice, the Fellow, and the Master are names of 
 operative grades, more than speculative degrees ; 
 although we hold the opinion that the speculative 
 element was not absent. 
 
 Regarding the conditions of advancement from one 
 degree to another we find the following in the Schaw 
 Statutes in 1598 :— 
 
 " It shall not be lesum to mak the said prenteiss 
 brother and fellow in the Craft, vnto the tyme that he 
 haif seruit the space of vther sevin yeirs efter the ische 
 of his said prenteischip, wt-out ane speciall licenc grantit 
 be the wardeneis, dekynes and maisteris assemblit for 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 205 
 
 that caus and that sufficient tryall be tane of thair 
 worthynes, qualificatioun and skill of the persone that 
 desyris to be mid fallow in Craft." ..." Providing 
 alwayis that na man be admittit wt-out ane essay and 
 sufficient tryall of his skill and worthynes in his vocatioun 
 and Craft." . . . 
 
 Also : "It is ordainit that atl fallows of Craft . . . 
 be not admitted without ane sufficient essay and pruife 
 of memorie and art of Craft." 
 
 The records of the Lodge of Atcheson's Haven contain 
 a minute on 27th December, 1722, as follows : — • 
 
 " The which day that companie being convened 
 feinding a great loss of the Entered Prentises not being 
 tried every St. John's day, thinks it fit for the futter 
 (future) that he who is Warden (or any of the Company 
 who he shall call to assist him) shall every St. John's 
 day, in the morning try every Entered Prentis that was 
 entered the St. John's day before, under the penalty of 
 on croun to the box." 
 
 In the records of Lodge Aberdeen, 1670, it is ordained 
 " that none of our lodge teach or instruct ane entered 
 prentise untill such tyme as he be perfyted be his intender 
 under the faylzie of being fyned as the company thinks 
 fit, but when his intender and his mate give him over as 
 being taught, then any person hath libertie to teach him 
 anything he forgetes, but if the entered prentise when 
 he is interrogat at our public meetings, forgate anything 
 that has been taught him, in that case he must pay for 
 it as the company thinks fit, except he can prove that 
 he was never taught such a thing and then his intender 
 
 MUST PAY FOR HIM." 
 
 The minutes of the Lodge Dunblane, in 1725, define 
 the duty of the intender to be " the perfecting of 
 
206 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 apprentices so that they might be fitt for their future 
 tryaUs." 
 
 The records of the old lodges have many references 
 as to the testing and examination of apprentices and 
 craftsmen, but we need not labour on a point that is so 
 clearly self-evident in the very constitution of our Craft. 
 It is graduated into ranks, or degrees, and it is laid down 
 as a condition of advancement that the apprentice must 
 show " suitable proficiency in a knowledge of the Craft." 
 The fact that " intenders " or instructors, were regularly 
 appointed in the old lodges to instruct the apprentices 
 and prepare them for their trial, is a plain evidence that 
 there was an examination, or trial. The word, " Passed," 
 in connection with the Craft degree, clearly indicates 
 some trial or examination. 
 
 The appointment of instructors has for a century and 
 a half obtained in the Lodge " Peebles," and for a 
 century and a quarter in the Lodge " Leven St. John." 
 Well do we remember the care and devoted attention 
 of our old instructor who was a past master and a 
 master-mason of 50 years' experience. It is our con- 
 viction, from a 47 years' connection with the Craft, that 
 the dropping of the ancient office of intender or instructor 
 has been a serious loss which nothing else can make good ; 
 and that its resuscitation would be of great benefit to the 
 Order. But, to make it effective, we must also resuscitate 
 the old landmark laid down in the Schaw Statute 
 regarding the " passing " of the Fellow in the Craft, viz., 
 " That sufficient tryall be tane of thair 
 
 WORTHYNES, QuALIFICATIOUNS AND SkILL." This 
 
 condition of advancement, if properly enforced in our 
 lodges, would produce a vast and much needed improve- 
 ment in the knowledge of Masonry among its members. 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 207 
 
 (7) Third Division — Section A. — The Principal Points 
 in " Opening " and in " Closing " a Lodge. 
 
 The first point in these ceremonies is that of " Tyling " 
 and it is a matter of regret that there does not exist a 
 clearer idea generally of what it means. As a rule, it is 
 thought that it is simply placing the T. outside. This 
 is incorrect, for that is only the first of " The Three 
 Cares " which make up the act of Tyling. But, even 
 this one is not done so carefully as it ought to be. 
 The direction given to the I.G. is to see that the T. is 
 in his proper place, and to do so the I.G. would 
 often require an X-ray power of vision, capable of 
 piercing through an inch deal-board, hanging between 
 two perpendiculars and two horizontals. He uses his 
 ears, and not his eyes, and from certain sounds supposes 
 that the T. and no other person, is in his place. The 
 second Care is also often not properly attended to. The 
 brethren should not stand to order like a file of soldiers 
 standing to attention, at the word of command. The 
 Second Care is the " Proving." By " standing to 
 order " he virtually says that all things are in order and, 
 therefore, he should do so cautiously and with knowledge. 
 When lodges were small, and the members all well 
 known to each other, the exercise of this " Care " was 
 not of the great importance it is at present. One good 
 rule to remember in connection with " Tyling " is 
 to see that those present have proven themselves, in 
 a proper manner, before the x is given. The Third 
 Care, seeing that the officers are in their proper places 
 and know their duties — is, generally, fairly well exercised. 
 These three Cares make up what is termed the " Tyling " 
 of the lodge and form the first point in the opening. 
 
208 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 The other points are the " Constituting " and 
 " Declaring." The purpose of the " Constituting " 
 is not always clearly shown. The questions are 
 sometimes asked " On what do masons meet ? " and 
 " In what do masons meet ? " But the proof is seldom 
 given that the lodge fulfils the conditions mentioned in 
 the answers, and the purpose of this part of the ceremony 
 is not so plainly indicated, as it ought to be. The 
 " Declaring " by the Master should be done with a 
 fitting sense of the dignity and responsibihty of the act. 
 A perfunctory manner and a hasty utterance often robs 
 the Chair of its authority and lowers the tone of our 
 Craft Ceremonies. 
 
 Regarding The Closing Ceremony, we will only make 
 a remark or two on the somewhat common practice 
 of " Tyling," by exercising the first and second 
 Cares, and even sometimes exercising the third Care 
 in the Closing Ceremony. So much so is this the case 
 that when a lodge is being passed into the second degree, 
 and then raised to the third degree, with the interval 
 of a minute or so, the whole formula is repeated. Does 
 not common sense at once challenge this, and ask for 
 what reason are we slaves to form in this way ? If some 
 of our ancient brethren of a few centuries ago returned 
 to this world and visited our lodges they would give a 
 smile of surprise at this proceeding. There may have 
 been a reason for this repetition of part of the opening 
 ceremony at a time when conviviality was so inti- 
 mately associated with masonry. The lodge was usually 
 called to Refreshment, and an hour or two were thus 
 spent, as many of the members had come some distance 
 to the meeting. This necessarily entailed a relaxing 
 of the usual masonic discipline, and a going to and fro 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 209 
 
 of the members. Before " Closing " therefore, as a 
 precaution, the first and second Cares were again 
 exercised. But does it not seem somewhat absurd that 
 when, or where, these conditions do not exist we should 
 continue to use such a formula ? It would be more 
 reasonable to " Tyle," whenever the ceremony of a 
 degree is about to begin, or Aj^en an OB. is to be 
 administered, as to do so when we are going to close 
 immediately after work. If needed at aU there is more 
 need in the former than in the latter case. There is 
 no apparent reason whatever to " Tyle " in the 
 " Closing," " Passing," and " Raising " of the lodge, 
 and more especially when that has been done a few 
 minutes previous. After " Opening " the lodge is 
 " Tyled," and the Tyler is at his duty, until relieved in 
 due course. 
 
 (8) Third Division — Section B. — The Principal Points 
 in " Entering," " Passing," and " Raising." 
 
 The Oath or Obligation is one of the most important 
 of the Points in these Ceremonies. 
 
 It is a safeguard of the right and privileges of masonry. 
 The worthy only should be admitted to its advantages 
 and, in order to secure these for the worthy, it is 
 necessary that its members should be bound to withhold 
 them from the unworthy. The obligations of masonry 
 do not keep the good from being better. They hinder 
 the bad from doing harm. They do not interfere with 
 the moral, civil, or religious duties of any man and are 
 purely negative in character. They form a covenant of 
 brotherhood and the signs of that covenant are known 
 to masons. There are certain minds who view all vows 
 
210 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 and obligations with disfavour, if not with horror, and, 
 at various periods in masonic history, the serious nature 
 of the masonic obligations has been advanced as a 
 charge against the Order, by both Church and State. 
 Let us look into this matter for a little, for it is a point 
 of some importance. The claim made by masonry is that 
 it has certain privileges, and that the only known way 
 to preserve these is to obUgate those who are entrusted 
 with them. This method is not confined to masonry. 
 It is adopted by mankind generally. The king takes the 
 oath before he receives the crown. The minister is 
 sworn before he receives his portfolio, the soldier before 
 he receives his colours, and the magistrate before he sits 
 on the bench. In the Church too, solemn vows are 
 required from its officials of all grades. Now, these vows, 
 or oaths, or obligations, call them by whatsoever name 
 you like, are all identical in this respect, they are meant 
 to preserve the Church, the State, or the Society, as the 
 case may be. Taking a common sense view, it will surely 
 be granted that the objectors to these vows, or oaths, 
 have no case until they can show some other method 
 
 THAT will serve THE PURPOSE IN VIEW EQUALLY WELL. 
 
 But, it may be urged by others, we do not object to a 
 vow, or oath, if it is just and right in itself. Is this the 
 case with masonic obligations ? Have they not been 
 overlaid with unnecessary conditions, and useless 
 verbiage ? It is to be regretted that, in some places, 
 this has actually taken place. Conditions — all self- 
 evident excrescences — ^have been incorporated into the 
 form of the obligation. Now, a reference to the ancient 
 charges, and to the minutes of the old lodges, show that 
 certain things, such as attendance, was subject to bye- 
 laws varying in different lodges, but aU having a money 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 211 
 
 PENALTY attached. Is it likely, under such circumstances, 
 to have been a part of the obligation ? Common sense 
 and modem ideas go together in insisting on a simple 
 form of obligation. It should be solemn, and, to be so, 
 
 SHOULD BE SIMPLE, PLAIN, AND DIRECT. It should Contain 
 
 only a declaration of fidelity to the secrets, and to the 
 Laws and Constitutions. "Bo attach unnecessary 
 conditions is not only absurd, it is also hurtful to the 
 Order. It should be carefully protected as a solemn 
 and sacred act, and, to keep it so, it must be preserved 
 from aU ridiculous, verbiage, absurd conditions, and 
 impracticable duties. 
 
 In reading the Old Charges, we have been much 
 impressed with the simple and sensible form of the OB. 
 as compared with that now common in some lodges. 
 At present it is often involved, and is sometimes so faulty 
 in grammatical construction that it binds the initiate to 
 the very opposite of what is intended. In the part 
 relating to penalties it is often coarse and offensive, and 
 the astonishing thing is, perhaps, not so much how it 
 has come to be, as why sensible and intelligent masons 
 tolerate it. Certainly, there is nothing more clear in 
 connection with masonic history than the testimony of 
 the Old Charges to the fact that the form we refer to is a 
 modem innovation, and is a monstrous corruption of the 
 old OB. In no REAL masonic document is there found 
 any warrant for it. 
 
 Let us see what the Old Charges say on the subject. 
 In the Buchanan MS. (1660 a.d.) we find : — 
 
 Par. XXX. — " The manner of taking an oath at the 
 making of Freemasons." " Tunc unus ex seniorebus 
 teneat librum, ut illi vel ille ponant vel ponat, manus 
 supra librum time precepta debeant legi." (Then one 
 
212 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 of the old members held the book, and he or they placed 
 the hand above/on the book. Then they were charged 
 with the precepts of the Law). 
 
 Par. xxxiv. — "These charges that you have received 
 you shall well and truly keepe, not disclosing the secresy 
 of our lodge to man, woman nor child ; sticke nor stone, 
 thing movable nor immovable. Soe God you helpe and 
 his holy Doome, Amen." 
 
 The Harleian MS. No. 1942 (about 1600) has the 
 following OB. : — 
 
 Par. xxxi. — " I, A.B., doe in the presence of A.G. and 
 my fellowes and brethren here present, promise and 
 declare, that I will not at any time hereafter by any act 
 or circumstance whatsoever, directly or indirectly, 
 publish, discover, reveale or make knowne any of the 
 secrets, priviledges or counsells of the Fraternity or 
 Fellowship of Freemasonry, which at this time, or any 
 time hereafter, shall be made knowne unto me. Soe 
 helpe mee God and the holy contents of this book." 
 
 The Harleian MS. No. 2054 (17th century) has the 
 following : — 
 
 " There is seurall (several) words and signes of a free- 
 mason to be revailed to yu w'ch as yu will ansnt (answer) 
 before God at the great and terrible day of Judgmt. 
 yu keep secret and not to revaile the same to any in 
 the heares of any psn (person) w (whatsoever) but to 
 the Mrs. (Masters) and fellows of the said society of 
 freemasons. So helpe me God." 
 
 In the Sloan MS. No. 3848 (1646) we find this OB. :— 
 
 " These charges that we have rehearsed and all other 
 yt belongeth to Masonrie you shall keepe to ye uttermost 
 of yor knowledge. Soe helpe you God & by the contents 
 of this booke." 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 213 
 
 III the Lodge Atcheson Haven Records under date, 
 1666, we have the follov/ing : — 
 
 " These are the charges that you have receaved & all 
 others that belong to masones in this book you shall 
 truly keep. So help you God and holy Dome to your 
 power. Amen, so be it." 
 
 It seems to us, with these (3B's. before us, tliere is 
 only one course open to all masons desiring the welfare 
 of our ancient institution, and that is to insist that a 
 simpler, more sensible, and consequently, more solemn 
 and binding form shaU be substituted, wherever the 
 corrupt form now prevails. The latter has neither the 
 sanction of age, of law, of reason, nor of good taste. 
 
 (9) Fourth Division — Section B. — The Powers and Duties 
 of the Master, and Officers, and of the Lodge. 
 
 It is interesting to note the various changes that have 
 taken place in the offices of a lodge. The minute books 
 of the Lodge of Edinburgh — Mary's Chapel — show that 
 in 1598 the officers consisted of a Warden and a Clerk. 
 There is no record of the office of Master at that date. 
 The Warden was head, or President, and also Treasurer. 
 In 1599 a Deacon was appointed, who acted as President. 
 There were thus three offices. Deacon, Warden, and Clerk. 
 In 1710 the Deacon is called President, in 1713 he is 
 called Grand Master, and, in 1735, Master. In 1712 the 
 Officer is first mentioned and, in 1763, he is named 
 " Tyler." In 1736, there is the first mention of Depute 
 Master. In 1737, we find Senior and Junior Warden, 
 Treasurer and Two Stewards, appearing on the scene. 
 Thus in 1737 the officers were Master, Depute Master, 
 Senior Warden, Junior Warden, Treasurer, Clerk, Two 
 
214 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ^ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 Stewards, and a Tyler. In 1739, mention is made of an 
 " Old Master," and, in 1798, the name is changed to 
 Past Master. In 1759, a Substitute Master first appears 
 in the Minutes. In 1771, a Master of Ceremonies ; in 
 1798, a Chaplain ; in 1809, Deacons ; in 1814, Standard 
 Bearer, and indoor and outdoor Tylers ; in 1836, 
 Architect ; in 1840, Jeweller ; in 1848, Trustees, and in 
 1865, Director of Music. The Clerkship was originally 
 a life appointment, and was so up to 1752. 
 
 From this survey, it will be seen that from 1598 to 
 1865 — 267 years — practically the whole array of offices 
 now so common have been formed, and that previous 
 to that time the whole management lay in the hands of 
 two officers, viz. : a Warden and a Clerk. 
 
 While this was the case in the individual lodge referred 
 to, there is evidence of officers of a superior rank, whose 
 duties were to supervise the lodges generally. Thus, at 
 the end of the 16th century, we find a " Principall 
 Warden and Chief Maister of Maissonis " for the purpose 
 of regulating the affairs of the Craft. Among the first 
 acts of King James the First (of Scots) a " Daekon or 
 Maister-man " was appointed to protect the community 
 against the frauds of Craftsmen. By enactment of the 
 Parliament which sat in Perth, in March 1424, the 
 nomination of their Deacons was vested in the Craftsmen 
 themselves. Queen Mary restored the office of Deacon 
 and confirmed the self-government of the trades and 
 their rights. In 1590, King James ratified the appoint- 
 ment of Patrick Copland of Udaught to the office of 
 " Wardene and Justice " over the masons in the counties 
 of Aberdeen, Banff, and Kincardine. The Schaw 
 Statutes, in 1598, show that under the crown there was 
 an office of Warden general, who had jurisdiction over 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 215 
 
 all the lodges in Scotland. These Statutes provide for 
 yearly elections, amongst other things, in the lodges. 
 That these Statutes were no sham is shown in the minute 
 book of the Lodge Edinburgh, wl^erein is recorded the 
 trial and sentence passed in the case of John Brown, 
 the Warden of the lodge. The minute in question runs 
 thus : — " The aucht day of J«ny the zeir of God 1600 
 yeirs, ye prencipall warden and cheiff maister of 
 maissonis, Wm. Schaw, maister of werk to ye kingis 
 ma'stie, comperit at Halerudhous, ye day forsaid wt ye 
 haiU maissonis of ye Ludge of Edr. and ye laird of 
 Aichinlect, and fand Jhone Broune, Warden of ye 
 Ludge of Edr.," etc., etc. The sentence was a fine for 
 contravening an act. 
 
 There is at present a tendency to Umit, by Grand Lodge 
 Law, the service of a Master of a lodge to one year. This 
 is certainly a trespass on the ancient landmarks and 
 on the rights of a lodge, and, so far as we see, has no 
 justification in sound utility or reason. There are, 
 unfortunately, in our Order as there are in every society, 
 men whose views of things are essentially selfish. They 
 take all they can get in the way of honour, or of profit, 
 and give as little as possible in return. Their ambition 
 is not to assist our institution out of any regard for the 
 interests of humanity. They seek office to suit their own 
 selfish aims, or to gratify their vanity by a grand title, and 
 a fine display of paraphernalia. They want cheap glory 
 and hence the earnestness with which they advocate a 
 law of limited service. Now, it may not do very much 
 harm to limit the term of office in a Grand, or Provincial 
 Grand Lodge, for these offices are to a great extent 
 ornamental ; but, in a regular working lodge, such a rule 
 might do incalculable harm. The conditions of every 
 
216 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 lodge are not the ^ame. What may suit one may prove 
 harmful to another. A town lodge, with a large active 
 membership, and a small country lodge are placed in 
 entirely different circumstances. The right of each 
 
 LODGE to elect AS MASTER ANY ONE OF ITS MEMBERS 
 WHO HAS THE REQUISITE SKILL AND KNOWLEDGE is a 
 
 prominent and ancient landmark. No man, however 
 excellent his capacity may be, can do full justice to 
 himself, or to the Craft, in one year or even in two years. 
 To fill the chair of a mason lodge, thoroughly and 
 efficiently, is no light task. Even a man of abihty and 
 enthusiasm is only beginning to feel himself at home after 
 twelve months' occupancy. At the end of two years, he 
 is just mastering the meaning and the plan of the work, 
 and it is only in the third year that the Craft will begin 
 to get the full benefit of his services. This refers only to 
 men of capacity and enthusiasm. Those who have 
 neither of these qualities should never be in the chair, 
 and, if ever they unfortunately get there, then the sooner 
 they are out of it the better. But, as the law exists, the 
 lodge can protect itself from an incapable Master by not 
 re-electing him, and it can encourage and show its 
 appreciation of a capable Master by giving him another 
 term of office. The proposed law, on the other hand, 
 would deprive it of the services of a capable Master just 
 at the time when he was beginning to be of most value 
 to it. 
 
 The limiting of the service in the chair is advocated 
 by the argument (if we can dignify it by the name of 
 argument) that the honours should go round. It assumes 
 that every member possesses the qualifications necessary 
 for the office, or rather, that no quahfications are needed 
 for it. Now we may have doubts as to the wisdom of the 
 
THE NATURE AND DIVISIONS OF THE LANDMARKS 217 
 
 proposed rule, or of the old system, but of this we may be 
 perfectly certain, a more unmasonic, or unreasonable, 
 argument could scarcely be put forward in support of 
 any proposal. " Send the honours round. Why ! of 
 course ! send the honours round," cries Bro. Bisbuz — 
 " I am not going to ' learn to labour and to wait.' I have 
 as good a right to have R.W.M. and P.M. to my name 
 as any one. Limit the term of office to one year, yes, 
 send the honours round ; I don't see why I should prove 
 myself worthy of it, I want it as soon and as cheaply as 
 possible. The highest interests of masonry and its 
 beautiful symbolism can take care of themselves. Send 
 the honours round ! Any one can surely fill the chair, 
 and, as for the lodge-work — hum — well, we'U manage 
 somehow — send the honours round ! " 
 
 Well, do you think this is the way to enhance 
 the honours of masonry ? Will you raise the value of 
 diamonds by making them as plentiful as chuckle stones ? 
 Instead of a law restricting the term of office, would it 
 not be better to have one enacted that all candidates 
 for the chair must first pass a strict examination before 
 a Board established for that purpose ? This would be 
 an honour, but, perhaps, it would not send the honours 
 round. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 MISCONCEPTIONS REGARDING THE LANDMARKS. 
 
 (1) That the Landmarks are Fixed and Unalterable. 
 
 A PROMINENT and prevalent misconception regarding 
 the landmarks is, that they are fixed and unalter- 
 able. This arises, no doubt, from the severe penalties 
 that were attached to unlawful interference with the old 
 material ones, and perhaps, in a special way from the 
 language of the Mosaic law on the subject. " Thou 
 shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they 
 of old time have set in thine inheritance " (Deut. xix. 14). 
 " Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. 
 And all the people shall say. Amen." (Deut. xxvii. 17). 
 These, and other verses from Holy Writ are often put 
 forward to justify the assertion that landmarks are 
 fixed and unalterable. It is thereby assumed that the 
 landmarks of masonry and those referred to in the 
 Mosaic law are, at least, analogous if not identical. That 
 this is not the case, it would not be difficult to prove. 
 Assuming, however, that the Mosaic law is applicable to 
 masonic landmarks, where is there anything in these laws 
 declaring landmarks to be fixed and unalterable ? The 
 law forbids you removing your neighbour's landmark, 
 on the same principle that it forbids you removing his 
 
MISCONCEPTIONS REGARDING THE LANDMARKS 219 
 
 goods or cattle. But it does not forbid you removing 
 your own landmark, so long as that does not affect your 
 neighbour, nor does it thereby declare landmarks to be 
 fixed and unalterable. As a matter of fact landmarks 
 have often been altered and renewed. There is no law 
 prohibiting you from removing your landmark. It only 
 forbids you from removing yottr neighbour's. If you and 
 your neighbour agree to remove a mutual landmark, 
 there is no law against that. It may become the mutual 
 interest of two nations, or two persons, to adjust the 
 boundary line between them. In that case, the old 
 landmarks are removed and new ones are set up. These 
 come under the same laws as the old ones and have all 
 their authority. 
 
 Such being the case with civic landmarks, to what 
 extent does this apply to masonic landmarks ? The 
 analogy between these two, like all analogies, is not 
 perfect. Not being the same, there must always be a 
 point where the analogy ceases. In the present instance 
 there is an important difference. The civic landmarks 
 are set up with the mutual consent of the parties whose 
 territories they mark out. The masonic landmarks are 
 set up by one party — the masonic society — to mark out 
 what it alone declares to be the bounds of its authority. 
 
 As the landmarks of masonry belong solely to the Order 
 and are for the guidance of its members only, it naturally 
 follows that the laws applicable to civic landmarks are 
 not always applicable to masonic landmarks. 
 
 In almost every detail of its constitution and 
 ceremonies, masonry has changed from time to time. In 
 the beginning of the eighteenth century these changes 
 were almost revolutionary in character and, if we take 
 the trouble of going over the records of the Grand Lodges 
 
220 SPECULATIVE MASONRY— ITS LANDMARKS. 
 
 of England and of Scotland since their formation, we 
 will find, almost in every year, some alteration and, at 
 times, the removal of landmarks. 
 
 The following are some of the changes made in the Laws 
 and Customs of the Craft since the beginning of the 
 eighteenth century : — 
 
 (a) Altering the term of service for Apprentice and 
 
 Craftsman. 
 
 (b) Excluding Craftsmen from having voice and 
 
 vote and from holding office in a lodge. 
 
 (c) Altering the age of a Candidate. 
 
 (d) Ceasing to appoint " Intenders " or " Instruc- 
 
 tors " for Entered Apprentices. 
 
 (e) Advancing an Apprentice or a Craftsman, 
 
 without " trial and proof of skill." 
 
 (f) Introducing a new form and mode of OB. 
 
 (g) Introducing new pass-words and tokens, 
 (h) Altering the mode of " Preparation." 
 
 (i) Changing the " Knocks." 
 
 (i) Changing a Trestleboard for a Cushion for the 
 Three Great Lights. 
 
 (k) Changing the names of the offices and making 
 
 new offices in a Lodge. 
 (1) Establishing Grand Lodges, 
 (m) Establishing Provincial Grand Lodges, 
 (n) Introducing Diplomas, 
 (o) Introducing new Degrees, 
 (p) Introducing Annual Contributions from 
 members. 
 
MISCONCEPTIONS REGARDING THE LANDMARKS 221 
 
 (2) That the Landmarks fix the Lodge Ceremonies, 
 Verbatim et Literatim . 
 
 This is the worship of the letter — a cult common to 
 every age and people, and from which we can scarcely 
 expect the members of our Order to be free. Forms and 
 ceremonies seem to be needful»for humanity and, while 
 they often degenerate into mere twaddle, they are, on 
 the whole, a kind of useful moral drill and discipline. 
 The free soul may be above them, but how can it express 
 itself without them ? It is above them only as the 
 musician is above, yet breathes his soul through, his 
 instrument. They are valuable, only in so far as they 
 have the spirit of truth within. The mere words and 
 letters are of no permanent importance, yet, often, these 
 are put forward as the all in all, while the sense and 
 spirit are left unheeded. 
 
 Within the masonic order the devotees of the letter 
 constantly use the phrase, " the ancient landmarks " 
 as a fetish. They demand the observance of a certain 
 routine, without regard to progress ; the use of a certain 
 form of expression, without reference to sense, and even 
 sometimes to grammar ; and the repetition of certain 
 statements, without respect to historical truth, or to the 
 real plan and principles of masonry. You may break 
 the spirit of all the commandments and be honoured, 
 but hanging and quartering is too good for you if you 
 break a single letter of the Law ! " You may eat and 
 drink in your house and make a beast of yourself on the 
 Sabbath," practically said the Pharisees of old, " but 
 you must not, however hungry, pluck the ears of corn 
 standing in the fields." Well did the Gentle One of 
 Nazareth say, " The Sabbath was made for man, and 
 
222 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 not man for the Sabbath." In the same way we should 
 remember that the landmarks are made for masons, and 
 not masons for the lanthnarks. 
 
 In the second degree we are told that masonry is " a 
 progressive science." How can this be if everything in it 
 is fixed and unalterable ? The absurdity of the idea 
 that our rituals are fixed word for word, and letter for 
 letter, can, perhaps, be best realised if we ask those who 
 hold by this notion, " why do you not ' work ' in 
 Hebrew ? According to your own reasoning you 
 should ■ work ' in the language of King Solomon and 
 the builders of the Temple. What right have you to 
 introduce such a modern innovation as the English 
 language into the work of masonry ? Is this not breaking 
 the ancient landmarks of the Order ? " 
 
 To lay down the dogma of a literally correct form of 
 ritual is to wander into a hopeless bog of contradictions 
 and absurdities. Is there such a thing as literal correct- 
 ness ? Language changes like everjd;hing else. The 
 English of Chaucer is not the Enghsh of to-day, and the 
 words of to-day will not be those of two centuries hence. 
 Not only the words but ideas also change. The truths 
 of our symbols may be eternal, but the expression of 
 these truths will only correspond with the ideas of those 
 who express them. The ideas of men previous to Galileo 
 never comprehended the Earth as a globe circling round 
 the sun. To the men of 1717, the word " evolution " 
 contained a limited and meagre conception. To-day, it 
 contains a universe of thought. What meaning had " the 
 liberal arts and sciences " and many other words then ? 
 As our knowledge extends, our language becomes more 
 comprehensive. He, who has never seen a building 
 greater than a clay biggin, has a limited idea of what the 
 
MISCONCEPTIONS REGARDING THE LANDMARKS 223 
 
 word " architecture " means. From these considerations 
 it appears that to fix the words would not fix the meaning, 
 and we must change the words if we are to retain the 
 sense and meaning. It is the spirit and the truth imder- 
 lying our symbols and ceremonies that our landmarks 
 have to preserve — not phrases and words — and they 
 never have determined, and never Ccin determine, the 
 mere verbal expression. 
 
 But a further question arises in connection with this 
 misconception, which of the various existing forms of the 
 ordinary ritual is the right one ? You will scarcely get 
 two lodges alike in expression and idea. Who is to 
 determine what is the true form ? Many brethren are 
 much exercised on this matter, and there is an inclination, 
 with some, to get a hard and fast ritual enacted by Grand 
 Lodge Law. There could scarcely be anything worse 
 than this for the best interests of our Order. There may 
 be certain inconveniences in variation but these are 
 nothing to the evils of a hard and fast ritual. Such a 
 ritual goes right in the teeth of natural law. Variation and 
 differences in form and expression are real advantages. 
 Would you have every blade of grass and every flower 
 and tree fashioned in one mould ? Do you think this 
 would improve God's work ? Where, then, would be 
 the beauty, dehght, and education of its infinite variety ? 
 Dead uniformity is slavery. It is a curse to freedom, 
 development, and individuality. We have at present 
 several variations in the form of our ceremonies. Let us 
 thank Heaven it is so. We cannot, and nobody can, say 
 which is the. correct form, and for this, also, may the 
 Lord make some of us truly thankful. As in nature, so 
 in masonry, the law of natural selection will at last 
 prevail. That which is best fitted for existence will 
 
224 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 survive, and the form that best expresses the highest 
 truths contained in our symbols and ceremonies will 
 ultimately be preferred. 
 
 It may be of interest now to enquire : — 
 
 (3) How Misconceptions have been formed. 
 
 Various causes have combined to form and to 
 propagate them. The loose use of the word " landmark " 
 has been the greatest cause. It has been bandied back 
 and forward, and used in almost every possible way, 
 without regard to its meaning. In human nature 
 ignorance and arrogance are often associated. When a 
 man has no proof, nor reasonable argument, he resorts 
 to loud assertion. Hence, we find the landmarks are 
 often loudly declared to be contrary to things with which 
 they really have nothing to do. Some masonic writers, 
 also, have written on the subject in such a grandilo- 
 quent style, that it is not surprising to find ordinary 
 members of the Order having misconceptions regarding 
 them. These writers have not only failed to define what 
 a landmark is, they have implied that it is what it is not. 
 They have claimed for the landmarks what theologians 
 claimed for certain dogmas — infallibility and eternity. 
 These loose assertions, through indifference and ignorance, 
 have been allowed to pass almost unchallenged, and thus 
 the prevalent misconceptions have been formed. 
 
 Besides the indifference and ignorance of the members 
 generally, there were other circumstances favouring these 
 misconceptions. The idea of masonry having been always 
 the same " from time immemorial " captivated the 
 imagination. Masonic orators rolled it as a sweet morsel 
 under their tongues. Even sensible men winked at the 
 
MISCONCEPTIONS REGARDING THE LANDMARKS 225 
 
 fallacy because of its flattery. The vanity of human 
 nature was tickled at belonging to a society untouched 
 amid the crash of empires and the course of centuries. 
 Peoples and djTiasties had flourished and decayed, 
 religions had come and gone; the solid frame of earth 
 itself had altered its features : but, amid this changing 
 universe, changeless only stood»this mystery of mysteries. 
 There are certain members of our Craft, when they see 
 or hear anything in a lodge which, to them, is new, cry 
 out that it breaks the ancient landmarks. They may not 
 have very clear ideas of what the landmarks are, but they 
 resent anything being put forward as masonry which 
 they do not know. They know all about masonry and, 
 therefore, anything not known by them cannot be 
 masonry. Brethren, the man who knows all about 
 masonry lives not on this planet. Beware of the man who 
 pretends he knows all about anything. You will usually 
 find he really knows very little. The more a man knows, 
 the more he discovers the greatness of his own ignorance 
 and, the more learned a mason is, the less is he inchned 
 to assert anything about the ancient landmarks. 
 
 There are other brethren, than the all-knowing ones, 
 we have just referred to, who object to afty change 
 through a weak fear that the slightest alteration would 
 give an opening to a flood-tide of fantasies and rubbish, 
 before which every landmark of our institution would be 
 swept away. This fear makes them oppose change in 
 every form. Reason may tell them that certain changes 
 are improvements, but they wiU not discuss the matter. 
 They take refuge behind " the ancient landmarks," and 
 there they remain. Those who adopt this attitude are 
 men whose minds are constitutionally hyper-conservative. 
 In moderation, these perform an important service to 
 
 Q 
 
226 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 any society. They prevent it from being driven hither and 
 thither with every wind, and give it solidarity. But the 
 constitutionally conservative and the constitutionally 
 progressive mind, to be of real benefit, must be governed 
 by intelligence. There is a time for all things. A time to 
 march and a time to halt. A time to grow and a time to 
 ripen. Each stage must fulfil its purpose. The halt must 
 be no longer than is necessary to recruit the exhausted 
 energies, and to replenish the scanty stores. When it 
 goes beyond that, it becomes laziness and cowardice. 
 The march must have a clear objective and must be 
 conducted with care and order, or it will be the rush of a 
 rabble and will result in disaster. Above all, halt and 
 march must be considered as incidents in a great 
 campaign for a great purpose. It is not sufficient to cry 
 out against anything that it breaks the landmarks. We 
 must be prepared to show what landmarks it breaks. 
 Intelligence must govern us, not childish fears ; for, it 
 not infrequently happens, that those who cry loudest 
 about the landmarks know least about them. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE LANDMARKS *JD PROGRESS. 
 
 (1) The Landmarks no hindrance to Progress. 
 
 A TRUE knowledge of the landmarks makes for progress, 
 and prevents innovations. The desire for progress 
 should not swell into disregard of them, nor respect for 
 them sink into superstitious worship. They conserve 
 and preserve the fundamental features and primary 
 principles of masonry, and are not antagonistic to its 
 development. If we wish, then, to further it, we can 
 best do so along the lines of the landmarks. The field 
 embraced within these lines is a wide one. It contains 
 subjects in close relation to scientific and philosophic 
 truth. It touches human knowledge and faith at so 
 many points that scientific research and philosophic study 
 can be utilised without, in the slightest degree, trespassing 
 on any of the landmarks. 
 
 Thought cannot be fettered. Can you mark off and 
 sub-divide the ocean, or the sky ? How much less can 
 you restrict and confine into various spheres the vast 
 domain of thought. There are different sciences and 
 various schools of thought, but, who would dream — even 
 were it possible — of isolating each by itself ? The 
 discoveries of the geologist are interesting to the 
 astronomer, and those of the astronomer are helpful to 
 the geologist. The facts of physical science are of value 
 
228 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 to the philosopher, and the reasonings of the philosopher 
 are important to the physicist. Is it possible then to 
 isolate masonry in the region of thought ? No, it 
 is neither possible nor desirable. The web of our 
 thought, to-day, is woven with threads spun by all the 
 ages. Every truth, the moment it is uttered, becomes the 
 property of the world. The wisdom of Solomon and of 
 Plato, the Psalms of David, the plays of Shakespeare, 
 and the songs of Burns, belong to humanity. Surely no 
 sane man will venture to assert that the landmarks are 
 meant to debar masonry from all the rich stores of 
 thought that He at the services of the human mind. 
 
 Let us take an illustration, from Nature. We eat bread, 
 made of the corn that grew out on the hillside and, 
 through a wonderful process of digestion and assimi- 
 lation, it becomes flesh and blood, becomes part of us. 
 It makes no difference in the form of our bodies and we 
 have the same bones, muscles, nerves, and features as 
 before. So masonry may assimilate new substance in 
 harmony with its system and derive fresh life and strength 
 therefrom. As the form of our bodies are to us, so are the 
 landmarks to masonry. Is it not, then, as ridiculous to 
 condemn any thought, which, by virtue of its affinity 
 to Masonry, may have been introduced into it, as it 
 would be to cry out against the corn of our bread, because 
 it grew outside and not inside of ourselves. The human 
 body does not object to food, fresh food, nourishing food. 
 What it objects to is poison — that which does not agree 
 with its constitution. The object of masonry is to build 
 up and unite humanity, and all knowledge and truth that 
 will further that work should be utiUsed. If the work of 
 the Temple is to progress, old and unserviceable 
 scaffolding must be replaced by new and improved 
 
THE LANDMARKS AND PROGRESS 229 
 
 material. The important thing is not the scaffolding but 
 the building. If we prohibit the introduction of fresh 
 thought and expression into our " lodge work " — not- 
 withstanding the propriety and beauty of such — if we 
 only repeat in a lodge what we have heard in a lodge ; 
 only cultivate the tongue and not the soul, the memory 
 and not the mind, then we abandon the plane of thinking 
 immortal souls, and place ourselves on the level of parrots 
 and magpies. 
 
 (2) The Teachings of History and Nature. 
 
 What does the voice of history tell us on the subject ? 
 If there is a truth in human experience more prominent 
 than any other, it is this — the institution that moves 
 not with the progress of the world ; that gives no room 
 for the exercise and expansion of the faculties with which 
 wise heaven has endowed us ; that fetters the mind by 
 forms and dogmas insincere and effete — such an institution 
 wiU inevitably fall out of touch with the march of 
 humanity, and sink into the horizon of the past. How 
 has masonry itself come down the ages ? Why has it 
 continued to exist while revolutions of blood and fire, 
 changes of thought and conditions, have practically 
 altered the world ? Why ? Because it changed to meet 
 the changing conditions. It developed fresh forms from 
 time to time in accordance with its environment. As 
 architecture passed from one people and one age to 
 another, always altering yet ever retaining its great 
 characteristics, so has masonry come down to us. Far 
 back in history Temples were built for the mysteries 
 of the gods. In Egypt and Assyria, in Judea, in Greece, 
 and Rome, men were banded together for the building 
 
230 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 of these. Down through the Middle Ages, in Europe, 
 similar bands of men moved from place to place erecting 
 sacred structures! From the last sprang the old Craft 
 lodges, out of which, at the beginning of the eighteenth 
 century, arose the unique and in many ways wonderful 
 organisation of Free and Accepted Masons. Are we to 
 consider that the law of Progress and Evolution ceased 
 in 1717, and that everything is fixed for ever since ? It 
 was as natural, in the conditions of 1717, that masonry 
 should take a new form as that the bird should emerge 
 from the egg, or the plant from the seed. The idea 
 involved in the lodge work of the Middle Ages was a 
 material structure, sheltering peace and brotherhood 
 amid the strife and bloodshed then prevalent. The idea 
 evolved in the lodge of to-day is the same but, instead of 
 a material building/or men, it is to be a spiritual building 
 of men, united together in the bonds of a universal 
 brotherhood. 
 
 As in history, so in nature, we are taught at every 
 step and turn that Progress is a necessary condition of 
 existence. The essence of real life is — 
 
 " To act that each to-morrow 
 Find us farther than to-day," 
 
 and, if masonry is to be a factor in creating a noblei 
 future for our race, we must not be content to learn only 
 the truths of the dead past, we must also master the 
 knowledge of the Uving present. We must prove our- 
 selves to be, what we sometimes proudly style ourselves, 
 " the sons of Light," and assimilate into our " Lodge- 
 work " the truths of modern thought and research. 
 Unless we do this, 51II our forms and ceremonies may be 
 as old and as interesting as an Egyptian mummy but, 
 for real work in the world, they will be quite as useless. 
 
THE LANDMARKS AND PROGRESS 231 
 
 Everything around us indicates the necessity of progress 
 The voices of nature everywhere, on land or sea, in the 
 heights of the heavens above us and in the depths of 
 the earth beneath us, proclaim in a universal chorus, 
 " Stagnation is death " ; and death himself bows and 
 whispers, " it is worse, it is sin." 
 
 The universe moves forward to a plan and purpose. 
 The process of evolution never ceases. We must either 
 obey the law of life by moving on, or die. As the 
 operative triumphs by obedience to law, so must we 
 work ever onwards and upwards. Every institution 
 must justify its right to live by right living. It must 
 appeal to man by what it does for mankind. It must 
 fulfil some function of existence if it is to exist. We may 
 cheat ourselves and our neighbours, but the All-Seeing 
 is also the All-Mighty, and He cannot be circumvented. 
 Shams are an insult to God and nature will not tolerate 
 them. Bombastic cant and pretentious claims to hidden 
 lore and secret science are as offensive to common sense 
 as they are repugnant to common honesty. An institution 
 resting on nothing but its past, is a mummy, not a living 
 body. Are the foregoing remarks applicable to masonry ? 
 Are we sure it is vibrating with life in the present and 
 pushing its hopes forward to the future ? Does it not 
 live too much in the past ? Are not its members apt to 
 treat it as a kind of light comedy, full of gaudy illusions, 
 as the outer world, in many quarters, considers it to be ? 
 He who makes masonry a living, working, reality in the 
 world is the real mason. There are too many of the 
 cheap tinsel-show kind, who think if they can decorate 
 themselves with jewels up to the 33rd degree, they thereby 
 prove themselves good Craftsmen. Decorations are 
 only valuable when won by honest service, and all these 
 
232 SPECULATIVE MASONRY — ITS LANDMARKS 
 
 shams have got to go to their own place before masonry 
 can become a real living, effective, moral force in the 
 world. Does it not often seem to be more engaged in 
 building a play-actors' booth than a sacred Temple ? 
 
 (3) The Temple of Brotherhood and Peace is the Great 
 Landmark. 
 
 From the womb of the operative system, speculative 
 masonry has sprung, and found a new and nobler sphere 
 of existence. So far, it has but passed through the 
 period of childhood and its full maturity is yet to come. 
 It is true, the vast proportions of its Ideal Lodge have 
 been almost already realised, and the east and west and the 
 north and south, within the walls of every little lodge- 
 room, seem no longer a display of conceit and vanity, but 
 represent a great materialised fact. It has spread itself 
 everywhere, until we can say in truth, " it extends from 
 east to west and embraces every clime between north and 
 south, it encircles the globe and surrounds the poles, its 
 golden chain of brotherhood unites every portion of the 
 human family, and its light beams wherever civihsation 
 extends." But not yet has it become fully conscious of 
 the great work — the grand mission for which the 
 centuries have prepared and preserved it. The dawn of 
 manhood is just breaking and it is slowly awakening to 
 life and duty. Dimly beginning to realise its power, 
 it is restless. The eternal questions of the " why " and 
 " wherefore " of existence are pressing themselves on its 
 attention. Why is it here, in this world of selfishness 
 and strife ? Wherefore has it been, amid war and 
 incessant conflict, developed along the lines of peace and 
 love ; and so marvellously moulded and developed that 
 
THE LANDMARKS AND PROGRESS 233 
 
 in every land it is now known, and by every race made 
 welcome ? Has all this been done that it may live for 
 itself alone ? No, there, on its Trestleboard is the Plan 
 of the Great Architect and its mission is to work out that 
 plan. Out of the rough hard quarries of quarrelling 
 humanity it has to build a Temple of Brotherhood and 
 Peace. This Temple is the great landmark — the highest 
 and grandest ideal of masonry. To build, strengthen, 
 and beautify it, we must bring in the aid of all the arts 
 and sciences, apply every resource that civilisation and 
 progress can give us, and exercise all the powers and 
 gifts with which we have been endowed. What nobler 
 work could we be engaged in, brethren ? Yet, how far 
 are we, as a rule, from understanding it ? We seem to be 
 groping in the dark. Yet, it is ignorance more than 
 im willingness that hinders the work. Like the ingenious 
 craftsman at the building of the Temple at Jerusalem, 
 we appear to be without plan and instruction, while, 
 in reality, our plan and instructions lie in the work itself 
 Like him, let us go to work and find out what is needed 
 for the building. Then, hke him also, we will some day 
 have our reward, and will gratefully exclaim, " Thank 
 God, I have marked well." 
 
 " Here eyes do regard you 
 In Eternity's stillness ; 
 Here is all fulness. 
 Ye brave, to reward you ; 
 Work, and despair not." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Part I.— Its Mission. 
 
 The Law of the Square in the Cross, p. 42. 
 
 The Tau Cross, or sign of regeneration, "is mentioned 
 by Ezekiel (ix. 4,6) as the ' mark (Tau) set upon the 
 foreheads of the men ' who were to be preserved alive." — 
 See Kitto's Biblical Cyclopedia — under the heading of 
 Egypt. 
 
 The Temple of King Solomon, p. 94. 
 
 There has been considerable discussion regarding the 
 equivalent of the cubit in modern measurements. The 
 Rev. W. Shaw Caldecott, M.R.A.S., in his work op 
 " Solomon's Temple : its History and its Structure " 
 holds the view that there were three kinds of cubits used 
 in the measurements of the Temple, and its vessels and 
 altars. These were "1. Cubit used in the plotting of the 
 Temple Courts, 1| feet or 18 inches ; 2. Cubit used in 
 the erection of the Temple buildings, IV feet or 14-4 
 inches ; 3. Cubit used in the construction of the figures 
 of cherubs, the golden and silver vessels, and gold- 
 embroidered veil of the Temple, ^^ foot or 10'8 inches." 
 
 Whether this author is right, or not, in this arrange- 
 ment of measurements, founded on the Senkereh Tablet 
 discovered in 1850, we will leave more competent judges 
 
236 
 
 SPECULATIVE MASONRY 
 
 to decide. In our measurements we have taken the cubit 
 at 18 inches, and based our calculations thereon. 
 
 The Pillars, pp. 96 and 97. 
 
 Regarding the appearance of these there have been 
 numerous representations. Those common to masonic 
 
 literature seem to us far off the descriptions given of 
 them, and from the character of the pillars known to 
 have been in general use in the East in ancient Temples 
 in King Solomon's time. Those given in ordinary 
 literature on the subject that have come under our 
 observation, are, also, in our humble opinion, not in 
 accordance with the specifications given nor the character 
 
APPENDIX 237 
 
 of the architecture of the period. For the satisfaction 
 of interested readers we venture to produce a representa- 
 tion of what we conceive those pillars to have been 
 from the descriptions given and from the discovered 
 remains of the architecture of the East, about the period 
 of the building of the Temple. 
 
 Part II. — Its Evolution. 
 
 Origins ascribed to Masonry. 
 
 (1) The Historical Difficulties, p. 119. 
 
 In attempting to trace the Evolution of Speculative 
 Masonry, the author was fuUy conscious of the difficulties 
 surrounding such a task, and his inability to overcome 
 them in a satisfactory manner. After fixing on this 
 subject, he found he had somewhat fooUshly committed 
 himself to a very intricate historic problem, and that, 
 for even a very superficial treatment, it would require a 
 much wider and deeper knowledge of history than he 
 possessed. As in nature, all things in history are more 
 or less interrelated ; and he soon discovered that the 
 stream of modern Speculative Masonry has received 
 contributions from far away sources, and through diverse 
 channels. The Ancient Mysteries, the Roman Collegia, 
 the Medieval Guilds, the French Companionage, the 
 German Stein-Metzen, and the Old British Craft Lodges, 
 all present to us a strong family resemblance to each 
 other. He also found that to read up and analyse the 
 best authorities, on the points having a bearing on the 
 subject, would demand more time and energy than he 
 had at his disposal. Fortunately, he had " The History 
 
238 SPECULATIVE MASONRY 
 
 of Freemasonry," by Bro. Robert Freke Gould, at hand, 
 and found therein the most comprehensive, careful, and 
 critical compilation on the subject that he has yet seen. 
 Every authority of note, seems to have been consulted ; 
 every record, referring to the subjects treated, appears 
 to have been ransacked and utilised ; so that its history 
 is a veritable " El Dorado " of masonic information. 
 From it he has taken the greater part of his data, and if 
 the reader should in any way be benefited by these 
 Lectures on the Evolution of Speculative Masonry, for 
 that benefit he is indebted far more to Bro. Gould than 
 to the author. But, while this is so, do not let it mislead 
 you into thinking that the views and inferences he has 
 put before you are those of Bro. Gould. That would be 
 very ungracious, as well as audacious, on his part ; and 
 would be a sorry acknowledgment of his indebtedness 
 to him. 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 FOR OPENING OF LODGE. 
 
 Great Architect, supreme I 
 Whose wondrous Wisdom planned 
 
 And made the earth, and sea, and sky, 
 
 A Temple Grand : 
 May we Thy light discern — 
 
 Thy Wisdom's light divine — 
 And wisely plan this day our work. 
 To work with Thine. 
 
 Eternal Builder ! whose 
 
 Almighty hand hath laid 
 The world's foundations, and in Strength 
 
 Established : 
 O grant us power to use 
 
 Thy righteous laws benign. 
 And build in strength this day our work. 
 
 To work with Thine. 
 
 Grand Master, Infinite ! 
 
 Who veiled with Beauty rare 
 And crowned with starry diadem 
 
 This Temple fair: 
 O give us grace to see 
 
 Thy Beauty, Love divine, 
 And beautify this day our work 
 
 With Love like Thine. 
 
MASONI^ HYMNS AND POEMS 241 
 
 FOR CLOSING OF LODGE. 
 
 The Sun proclaims within the West 
 
 The hour of sweet repose, 
 The Warden marks the level ray 
 
 And bids our labours close. 
 
 The day is gone, on Life's brief page 
 
 It's record ne'er shlll fade; 
 And we must build our future on 
 
 The past that we have made. 
 
 O gracious Master ! bless our work. 
 
 Imperfect though it be; 
 And o'er the world speed our Craft. 
 
 In peace and harmony. 
 
 FOR THE A. DEGREE. 
 
 THE TRAVEL. 
 
 Through midnight dark I feebly grope my way 
 
 Oppressed with fear; 
 I dread to go, and yet I dare not stay 
 
 With dcmger near ; 
 Eternal Father ! guide my feet aright. 
 And lead me, step by step, up to the Light. 
 
 I do not know the secret path I tread 
 
 Thro' scenes unknown, 
 I humbly wander whither I am led — 
 
 Thy power I own; 
 Eternal Father ! guide me through this night 
 And lead me, step by step, up to the Light. 
 
 The World, its pride and passions, wealth and power. 
 
 All, all are gone ; 
 Blind, poor, and weak I trust, in this dread hour, 
 
 On Thee alone; 
 Eternal Father! guide me in Thy Might, 
 And lead me, step by step, up to the Light. 
 R 
 
242 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 THE ADVANCE FROM WEST TO EAST. 
 
 From West to East^^ Earth travelling day by day; 
 For ever seeks the Sun's sustaining ray ; 
 So turn from evil, seek for Truth and Right, 
 From West to East, from Darkness into Light. 
 
 THE INVESTMENT WITH THE APRON. 
 
 Thy Badge of labour and of servitude. 
 Is Decoration of the highest worth ; 
 •That only can be noble which is good. 
 
 And from the humblest service cometh forth 
 True honour and reward. See thou disgrace it not 
 And it will lend thee grace, however high thy lot. 
 
 THE THREE PRECIOUS JEWELS. 
 
 The Jewels vain, of earthly fashion, may 
 
 Oft gleam and glitter in the glare of Time; 
 But, in the unimaginable day 
 
 Of Heaven's all-radiant and eternal clime. 
 The Jewels of the deathless soul, alone shall shine 
 And sparkle in the glory of the Light divine 
 
 THE WORKING TOOLS. 
 
 Go, work thy task, however low it be 
 
 'Tis thine, and in its doing lies thy fate; 
 To God's plan work, each stroke of Gavel free. 
 Carves deep the Unes of all thy future state; 
 There is no height, nor depth, in the eternal space; 
 Not humble work but work ill done, wil! bring disgrace. 
 
 * ' 'Tis only noble to be good." — Tmnyson. 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 243 
 
 THE NORTH-EAST CORNER. 
 
 O GiVK, for all thou hast to thee was given. 
 
 It is the only God-like act of man. 
 Give ! the occasion is a gift from Heaven 
 Demanding active thanks; give all you can, 
 For careful Heaven receives and treasures all in store. 
 And freely gives for every givmg, more and more. 
 
 THE EXPLANATION. 
 
 We all are, more or less, but creatures weak, 
 Environed hard by circumstances strong; 
 
 And virtue oft may walk in rags and seek 
 
 In vain for help, whilst vice drives proud along 
 
 Her sumptuous car: yet, outward evils pass away. 
 
 The good and true, built on a rock, stand firm for aye. 
 
 FOR THE C. DEGREE. 
 
 THE TRAVEL. 
 
 Onwabd moves the whole Creation, 
 
 Working out the eternal plan; 
 Sun and planet, stream and ocean, 
 
 Flower and forest, beast and man. 
 Never resting, ever going 
 
 Forward on their destined way; 
 Spring to Summer-glory growing. 
 
 Mom emerging into Day. 
 
 Forward, brother, then be going. 
 To the might of manhood move; 
 
 And thy going be 't in growing, 
 And thy growing be 't in love. 
 
244 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 LIGHT IN DARKNESS. 
 
 •He that hath light within his own clear breast, 
 May in Earth's centre, still enjoy bright day; 
 
 But he who hides a dark soul walks unblest. 
 Benighted, 'neath the Sun's meridian ray. 
 
 THE WORKING TOOLS. 
 
 Go, work with utmost skill and loving care. 
 The Temple needs thy work, do all you can: 
 
 Use Mallet, Chisel, Level, Plumb, and Square, 
 And shape Earth's dust to Heaven's eternal plan. 
 
 THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT. 
 
 With good and ill, with varied Ught and shade. 
 So is the chequered pavement of our life ; 
 
 Yet, through it all is Virtue stronger made 
 When by the Day-star guided in the strife: 
 
 The arms of Providence surround us still with care 
 
 As circles round the Earth, the life-sustaining air. 
 
 ASCENDING THE STAIR. 
 
 Art's endeavours. Nature's action. 
 
 Sense and Science, Faith and Sight — 
 All are thousand-fold reflections 
 
 Caught from Truth's eternal light, 
 That in ceaseless, countless flashes. 
 
 Light the upward winding way. 
 Where the Youth to Manhood passes. 
 
 And the Morning into Day. 
 
 Upward, brother, then be growing. 
 To the Light that shines above ; 
 
 And thy growing be 't in knowing. 
 And thy knowing be 't in love. 
 
 * Paraphrased from Coleridge's " Remorse." 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 245 
 
 Life is motion, Life is action, 
 
 'Tis for work there's light of Day; 
 Manhood's strength and Summer's glory 
 
 Into fruit should pass away. 
 Skill and power for work were given. 
 
 And the mighty Plan designed ; 
 Lo! the Temple work unfinished. 
 
 Claims your strength of heart and mind. 
 
 Onward, brother, then be going. 
 
 Let thy work thy Knowledge prove; 
 
 And thy knowing be 't in doing. 
 And thy doing be 't in love. 
 
 THE CHARGE. 
 
 Work, my brother, while there's daylight. 
 
 And the yielding season lasts ; 
 Treasure up the golden harvest 
 
 From the coming winter blasts ; 
 Reverence truth and love thy fellows. 
 
 Cherish all that will endure; 
 Live in deeds and words of kindness. 
 
 Noble thoughts and feelings pure: 
 Then, when barren winter cometh. 
 
 Homeward, ladened thou shalt bring 
 Rich soul-stores, with which rejoicing. 
 
 Thou Shalt wait th' immortal Spring. 
 
246 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 FOR THE M. DEGREE. 
 
 THE TRAVEL. 
 
 Life's brief moments, swiftly flying. 
 
 Speed us near and nearer Death ; 
 Earth and Time are quickly dying, 
 
 Passing like a vapour breath. 
 
 Swift, swifter still, at every breath. 
 Near, and more near, steals silent Death 
 Help ! help us how, O Thou Most High ! 
 In this dread hour of mystery. 
 
 Earth and all its passions perish. 
 
 Time and all its duties cease ; 
 Wealth and power, that mankind cherish. 
 
 Bring us here no joy or peace. 
 
 Swift, swifter still, at every breath, etc. 
 
 Life's sweet light is quickly going. 
 Day's biright sun sinks in the West ; 
 
 Night's dark shadows round us growing, 
 Herald Death's eternal rest. 
 
 Swift, swifter still, at every breath. 
 Near, and more near, steals silent Death; 
 Help ! help us now, O Thou Most High 1 
 In this dread hour of mystery. 
 
 THE TRIAL. 
 
 Moment full of dread and trial; 
 Who to thee can give denial 
 When thy time shews on the dial? 
 
 Justice on his throne is seated. 
 Art and science stand defeated, 
 And the circle's uncompleted. 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 247 
 
 Human nature, poor, benighted. 
 Trembling, sinking, starts affrighted ; 
 Sees the fires avenging lighted. 
 
 — High XII. sounds. 
 
 Hark ! the fatal hour is peaUng, 
 Secrets dread to all concealing. 
 Secrets deep to thee revealing. 
 
 Lo ! within the gloomy portal 
 Shalt thou now complete thy circle. 
 And the mortal be immortal. 
 
 THE LEVEL. 
 
 The Sun hath set, the Work is o'er. 
 The sands of Life here run no more ; 
 By darkness Light is overcome. 
 And on the Level lies the Plumb. 
 
 Before the scythe the flower is laid. 
 The Jewel lies beneath the spade; 
 By Death is Manhood overcome. 
 And to the Level lies the Plumb. 
 
 Hate's Mallet triumphs, Love is slain, 
 And Peace flies back to Heaven again; 
 By Evil Good is overcome, 
 And at the Level lies the Plumb. 
 
 SEARCH— GOING. 
 
 Search from Centre unto Circle, 
 Duty old, yet ever new; 
 
 Make your quest all. 
 
 East, South, West all. 
 Seek the false and find the true. 
 
248 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 SEARCH— RETURNING. 
 
 Search from Circle unto Centre, 
 Duty old, yet ever new ; 
 
 Make your quest all. 
 
 East, South, West all, 
 Seek the false and find the true. 
 
 THE MARCH TO THE MOUNT. 
 
 Rest, Oh rest ! Life's toil is over. 
 Earth's brief day is past and gone ; 
 
 Death's dark shadow is the cover 
 Of a bright supernal dawn. 
 
 Rest, Oh rest, from Labour rest. 
 
 In the Temple of the blest. 
 
 Here, we work in Time's Lodge dreary 
 At the Eternal Temple fair; 
 
 There, sweet rest is for the weary, 
 And reward for toil and care. 
 
 Rest, Oh rest, from Labour rest 
 
 In the Temple of the blest. 
 
 Lo I the everlasting morrow 
 
 Through the night of darkness breaks. 
 And from Death, and Sin, and Sorrow, 
 
 The immortal spirit wakes. 
 Rest, till then, from Labour rest. 
 In the Temple of the blest. 
 
 RAISING. 
 
 Jov ! joy ! gone is the gloomy night. 
 Hail ! hail ! hail ! to the morning light 
 
 Out from the gloom. 
 
 Up from the tomb. 
 AUelul Alielu! Alielu ! Jah. 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 249 
 
 Wake ! wake ! dead is the Past and gone, 
 Hail ! hail ! hail ! to the happy dawn ; 
 
 Wake from the Past, 
 
 The Future thou hast. 
 AUelu! AUelu! Alielu ! Jah. 
 
 Rise ! rise ! strong from the Level low. 
 Up ! up ! up ! to the Plunfb-line grow ; 
 
 Rise to thy height. 
 
 Up in thy might. 
 Alielu! Alielu! Alielu! Jah. 
 
 Joy ! joy ! fled is the night of gloom. 
 Haste ! haste ! haste ! from the dismal tomb. 
 
 Gone is the Night, 
 
 Hail to the Light. 
 AUelu! Alielu! Alielu! Jah. 
 
 THE WORKING TOOLS. 
 
 Go, work on mind and matter now, 
 A Master raised to power art thou. 
 Impress on each and all you can 
 Wise Heaven's eternal Temple-plan. 
 As on a trestleboard portray 
 The great Design, from day to day. 
 And build, in silence rever'ntly. 
 The Temple of Humanity. 
 
250 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 THE CHARGE. 
 
 Go forth I go forth ! and be a Master true. 
 
 Be master of thyself, and thou shalt sway 
 A mightier sceptre than great Caesar knew, 
 A kingdom grander, bom not for a day. 
 But as thyself, Immortal, that art its firth and spring. 
 At once its Kingly-Subject, and its Subject-King. 
 
 Go forth ! go forth ! and be a Master true. 
 Thy selfish self leave buried in the Past; 
 The Level brings the upright Plumb in view. 
 The Darkness only proves the Light o'ercast. 
 Give Death the grosser husk so that the seed may live. 
 And fruit, fuU-sweet, in its due season ever give. 
 
 Go forth ! go forth ! and be a Master true, 
 
 A builder of the Temple all divine ; 
 Rise to the Master-life sublime, and through 
 Earth's darkness let thy Light immortal shine. 
 The Light invisible — -that secretly reveals 
 The inner being, which the visible conceals. 
 
 FOR THE Mk. M. CEREMONY. 
 
 THE ADMISSION. 
 
 In Life's rough, restless quarries, busy ever. 
 Each day brings forth its toil and trials deep. 
 
 Yet sleep and food give strength for fresh endeavour. 
 And work gives sweetness to the food and sleep. 
 
 In idleness the virtues flourish never. 
 
 In work and trial all the soul is braced; 
 
 Life's common tasks are soil that nourish ever 
 The fairest flowers with which the soul is graced. 
 
 Then, brother, from the Future courage borrow, 
 Nor fly the present test, however sore; 
 
 Each pain of honest work, each cross and sorrow, 
 God's glorious Temple builds up more and more. 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 251 
 
 THE INSPECTION. 
 
 Onward, brother, on to show 
 
 Work that's good and fair. 
 Nought can to the Temple go 
 
 But the sound and square. 
 Bring your work, whate'er it be. 
 
 To the Overseer,^ 
 To the true, no test or view 
 
 Bringeth dread or fear. 
 
 Onward, all together work, 
 
 Joining heart and hand ; 
 And receive the sacred mark 
 
 For the Temple Grand. 
 All that's noble, all that's pure. 
 
 Beautiful and fair; 
 Choicest beryl and precious pearl. 
 
 All are wanted there. 
 
 THE INSPECTION. 
 
 Forward, brother, onward move. 
 
 Humble work, if sound. 
 Wrought by hand and heart of love 
 
 Will be surely crowned. 
 Be it rich or be it plain. 
 
 Be 't but true and square. 
 It will grace an honoured place 
 
 In the Temple fair. 
 
 Onward, brother, onward speed. 
 
 Work well, mark well, still. 
 Do the task for which there's need. 
 
 With your utmost skill. 
 Truth 's eternal though it be 
 
 Mid the rubbish tost : 
 Duty done is honour won, 
 
 Good, is never lost. 
 
252 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 THE REJECTION. 
 
 Lost, lost, lost and gone. 
 Fruit of thy labour and pride of thy heart, 
 Copestone of Craftship and Triumph of Art, 
 Rarest of marble and choicest of stone — 
 
 Lost, lost, lost and gone. 
 
 Lost, lost, lost and gone, 
 Rubbish and dust are encircling thy prize, 
 Spurned and rejected in darkness it lies, 
 Triumph of Craftship and choicest of stone- 
 Lost, lost, lost and gone. 
 
 THE SEARCH. 
 
 'Tis lost, but not for ever, 
 'Tis gone, but to return ; 
 The good and true die never, 
 Tho' buried in the Urn. 
 Thy work shall be rewarded, 
 Because thy work was true ; 
 The rubbish heaps but guard it 
 Until its time is due. 
 
 True work is God's own treasure, 
 And He His own will guard ; 
 And with o'erflowing measure 
 The faithful will reward. 
 'Tis lost, but not for ever, 
 'Tis gone, but to return ; 
 The good and true die never, 
 Tho' buried in the Urn. 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 253 
 
 ON THE SYMBOLISM OF THE C. DEGREE. 
 
 The fleeting forms of sense and of matter. 
 Are the shadows and symbols of truths everlasting ; 
 The Steps of the Stair for our souls to climb upward. 
 The Veil that reveals and conceals the Eternal, 
 And tempers, in mercy, the beams of His glory 
 To the weak mortal vision of nmn. 
 
 All knowledge is nought, if it leads us no nearer 
 To Him — the breath of whose spirit is in us: 
 Wild-wandering children, thro' light and thro' darkness. 
 Thro' life and thro' death, we are seeking our Father, 
 To form the circle complete on Life's dial; 
 Our end to fulfil in the source of our being. 
 And, thro' Death's gloomy portals, to rise from Earth's level 
 To the plumb-line of Life and Meridian of Heaven. 
 
 REFLECTIONS AT THE CLOSING OF A YEAR. 
 
 Another year has swiftly flown into the past. 
 Another chapter in our history's closed to-day ; 
 
 The tiny sands within Life's glass keep running fast 
 And nought, for one brief breath, their onward course can stay ; 
 And what of work, marked well, and true and square. 
 Have we brought up this year, to build the Temple fair ? 
 
 Alas I we let the precious moments idly fly, 
 And feel Time's value only by its loss; the boon 
 
 Of manhood's strength and years flit from us while we cry 
 Like pampered children, whimpering for the barren moon ; 
 The thing we have not got, we ever crave. 
 And know not that for us the best is what we have. 
 
 God's plan is aye before us on our trestleboards. 
 The work fit for us lies aye ready at our hands; 
 
 Our nearest duty is the highest, and affords 
 The greatest good, if we prove true to its demands. 
 Brother, mark well, and measure out thy days. 
 That thy life's keystone may receive the Master's praise. 
 
254 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 AN APOLOGY 
 
 For Absence from a Festival of Lodge Leven St. John, 
 27th December, 1893. 
 
 My worthy freens and brethren true, 
 I'm wae tae think I'm no wi' you 
 
 On this, the nicht o' nichts ; 
 Tae fan an' feed the mystic flame. 
 That gies oor Craft its warld-wide fame — 
 The bond that mak's us a' the same, 
 
 Pledged 'fore the licht o' lichts. 
 
 But och ! ochan ! things hae gaen wrang, 
 Infernal Influenza's fang 
 
 Has pierced me unco sair; 
 An', reft o' pith an' power, I noo 
 Reflection's cud maun chirt an' chew, 
 An', at the ingleside, maun coo 
 
 An' lie, fore-fauchten fair. 
 
 Yet, think na I've sae little sense. 
 As sneer, or snarl, at Providence ; 
 
 Or question His wise will. 
 The darkest cloud refreshment brings. 
 Whiles crawlin' worms hide gowden wings, 
 An' wisdom aft frae trouble springs. 
 
 An' guid frae oot o' ill. 
 
 Like bairns fu' vain, we're apt tae gang, 
 Whan purse an' person's stoot an' Strang, 
 
 An' a' is fine an' fair; 
 An' sae we need a skelp fu' smart, 
 Tae clear oor head, an' clean oor heart, 
 An' mak' us ken, wi' a' oor art. 
 
 We are but mortals puir. 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 255 
 
 But, while I ' canna share your glee, 
 I winna sit wi' tearfu' e'e 
 
 An' yaummer at my fate ; 
 A gnintin', gimin' spirit ne'er 
 Yet eased the heart o' cankrin care. 
 Or cured the ills, that a* maun bear, 
 
 Wi' Adam's fa'en estate. 
 
 But rather, I'll in spirit jine 
 
 Your happy throng, for auld lang syne, 
 
 An' pledge oor ancient mither; 
 Lang may her sons be strong an' weel. 
 An' flourish, spite o' man an' deil. 
 An' yearly meet tae dance a reel 
 
 In social joy th'gether. 
 
 An' may the kindly Powers this nicht, 
 Gie ane an' a' their heart's delicht 
 
 Wi' ne'er a sting ava. 
 May Wit its sinile to Wisdom lend. 
 An' laughing mirth on Love attend. 
 An' a' the social virtues blend, 
 
 Tae mak' ye happy a'. 
 
 But — tuts, tuts — stop — I'm clean gyte gaun, 
 Tae miss the fact that ye've at han' 
 
 The source o' a' delicht. 
 The marked Keystane o' life's arch fair. 
 The master-piece o' nature rare. 
 The balm o' sorrow, an' o' care — 
 
 The lassies, sweet an' bricht. 
 
 Sae, worthy freens, baith fair an' square. 
 Bid melancholy, thocht an' care 
 
 Flee oot, an' far awa ; 
 The Present, mak' sae sweet an' bricht. 
 That memory o't will bring delicht; 
 An' thus, content, I'll say "Guid Nicht, 
 
 An' joy be wi' ye a'." 
 
256 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS ' 
 
 Address to the Brethren of Lodge Leven St. John, 
 No. 170, ON 31sT January 1896; regarding which the 
 Following Preface will afford an Explanation : — 
 " When receiving the testimony of your kindly 
 feeling and esteem (in the form of handsome gold 
 watches to my good wife and myself), 1 endeavoured 
 to express my thanks in a few verses. These I have 
 since revised and have had printed, so that the sub- 
 scribers might each receive a copy, and thus, while 
 having an expression of my thanks, also possess a 
 slight memento of the brother whom they have so long 
 honoured with the mallet of Mastership, and have now 
 overwhelmed with tokens of their affectionate regard." 
 
 Dear brethren of the mystic tie, in vain 
 I've tried, in formal prose, my thanks to speak. 
 For fitting phrase I've searched my weary brain. 
 But find all ranting wild, or cold and weak. 
 Hence, to my faithful Muse I turn again. 
 And seek the aid of her melodious art. 
 My thoughts to tune and train, 
 And breathe in flowing strain. 
 The deeper feelings of my grateful heart. 
 
 In moment such as this, I would be more 
 Than human, or must needs be less. 
 Did I the pulsings of my being's core 
 Not seek all freely to express : 
 The outer world may sneer, or ban, or bless, 
 I care not — ^it is you, 
 Warm worthy friends, the tried and true — 
 'Tis you, and not the world, that I address. 
 Here, oft at close of Labour's daily round. 
 Through all the chequered light and shade 
 That fickle Fortune on Life's Pavement made. 
 Here I have ever found 
 The social joy, the peaceful happiness. 
 The friendly glow we feel but cannot all express 
 
 That kindles in our bosoms, when 
 In the broad brotherhood of honest-hearted men. 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 257 
 
 My friends, this world is full of selfish fraud. 
 
 The love of money, like a cankrous sore. 
 Is eating up the hearts of men; their God 
 Is Gold,, for it they traverse sea and shore. 
 
 And dig and bore 
 Into Earth's caverns deep; and, deeper far. 
 For it they sink their souls for evermore 
 In blackest crime and cruel bloody war ; 
 *For it, the flimsiest rag of an excuse is good 
 To break God's peace, and run 
 With rifle and with Maxim gun. 
 Mowing down like grass upon the plain 
 The dusky natives of the soil, 
 And, over heaps high piled of slain. 
 
 Through foaming flood 
 Of gurgling, gushing, human blood. 
 Exultant seize the rich and longed for spoil: — 
 Great mines untold 
 Of gold, unsatisfying gold. 
 Insatiable as wolves, with envious eyes they see 
 The rich possessions of their neighbour near; 
 
 Mad with success, without a single plea, 
 And throwing to the winds all doubt and fear. 
 And all that honest men hold dear — 
 Faith, Honour, and Humanity — 
 They light the torch of war. 
 And, near and far, 
 With wild alarms 
 Disturb the State, and set the world in arms. 
 
 The worship of mean Mammon grows apace. 
 The simple, manly virtues disappear; 
 And, like dry-rot, from top to base. 
 From tier to tier. 
 Within our social frame to-day 
 The love of luxury proclaims decay. 
 O for the old heroic race. 
 Who prized their honour and their faith more dear 
 
 *Tbe actions of the South African Chartered Company are here referred to. 
 
 S 
 
258 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 Than life or wealth. Now, in their place. 
 Degenerate sons their sires disgrace; 
 From them the generous deed receives no cheer. 
 
 But oft gives rise 
 To laugh contemptuous and to scornful sneer; 
 Not understanding, they must needs despise 
 The height and grandeur of self-sacrifice. 
 The hell-bom creed 
 With which they satisfy their souls' great need. 
 Is, "Self is number one;" and so, conceitedly, 
 They play their paltry tricks, in every line. 
 Like apes within an Indian temple hall, 
 ObUvious of the Omniscient eye divine 
 That pierces through the hearts of all. 
 
 Within religion's holy shrine 
 They deem their cursed greed is glorified, 
 And that the virtues all reside. 
 And all the heavenly graces shine. 
 In that great idol called "Respectability." 
 They slave themselves, and cheat 
 The hungry orphan of his crust. 
 Grinding their fellow sinners to the dust. 
 And then, with heavy purse 
 Laden'd with many a widow's curse. 
 Bid hard and high for patents of nobility. 
 O, hell itself must laugh with glee. 
 And shake its hideous sides with joy 
 Triumphant, thus to see 
 These world- wise. Mammon-mortals, tickled with a toy. 
 
 Th? standard of this inner world of ours 
 
 Is not that of the world outside. 
 
 Gold, as a creature, we do not deride. 
 
 It has its uses and its rightful powers ; 
 
 But here, at least, it loses in its might 
 
 To dominate each thought. 
 
 And govern every plan; 
 
 Unto our sight 
 The value of the purse is not 
 The value of the man. 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 259 
 
 Nor is its depth the measure of his height : 
 
 We reckon not success. 
 
 In grabbing round and round, 
 
 A test of worthiness 
 
 Or basis of true happiness : 
 
 The greatest triumphs have been crowned 
 
 With mocking thorns of sore defeat. 
 
 True Hfe has oft in dettth been found. 
 
 And highest honours won, through sacrifice complete. 
 
 Thus, brothers, are we taught to prize all things 
 Free from the false, bewildering glare — 
 
 The yellow light, that flings 
 
 A transient lustre on the tinselled toys 
 
 Within the world's busy fair; 
 
 And, in the clear white light, 
 
 To hold all gifts of earth and sky. 
 
 Both day and night. 
 
 And strength and sight. 
 
 Life's tears and joys. 
 
 And circumstances mean and high. 
 
 As stones, whereof we build the winding stair 
 
 That upward leads us, step by step, to scan 
 
 The sacred hieroglyphic bright 
 
 Within the Temple grand and fair; 
 
 And mark the rock-truths on life's plan — 
 
 The fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man. 
 
 The silent hands of mighty Law and Love, 
 On Time's great dial constant move. 
 
 Each at its own appointed pace. 
 Round the same centre ; and fulfil. 
 
 In harmony and grace. 
 
 The purpose of the One Eternal Will. 
 
 When both hands meet 
 
 It is the hour of noon — 
 
 The hour of Death: it is high twelve, and now 
 
 The Warden's hail breaks on the attentive ear. 
 
 And calls us to Refreshment sweet — 
 
260 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 Heaven's precious boon, 
 
 The cooling shade, and social cheer, 
 
 And friendship's genial glow. 
 
 So doubly dear 
 
 To Labour's panting breast and burning brow. 
 
 O strange, mysterious hour ! 
 
 Death's shadow, like an ambushed serpent, lies 
 
 In the full blaze of Life's meridian power ; 
 
 In toil and strife 
 
 We spend our fleeting breath. 
 
 And happiness before us ever flies 
 
 But high twelve brings 
 
 To weary life. 
 
 Upon its sombre silvery wings. 
 
 The holy calm and blissful shade 
 
 Of restful death; 
 The mystic circle is completed. 
 The mortal number is repeated. 
 And the upright Plumb unto the Level low is laid. 
 
 Earth, round her mighty orbit, constant wheels 
 Along the vast illimitable space ; 
 At every turn she opens and reveals 
 A new page in the book of Time. In face 
 And form all things around us change. 
 Yet ancient Faith appeals. 
 And modern Knowledge in its utmost range 
 Declares, the Spirit that the Universe conceals 
 Is, as of old. 
 The Changeless One, 
 That was, and is, and is to be: 
 The varying mould 
 In which the Present age is cast. 
 Works out His purpose and His fixed decree 
 As fully as the Past. 
 All change is part of an unchanging plan. 
 The glorious Temple grows from age to age; 
 We here can only see 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 261 
 
 The planking and the working stage, 
 The turmoil and the coarse debris; 
 But God's great work we cannot, dare not gauge : 
 Ere time began 
 Its plans were made. 
 And fathomless foundations laid. 
 And its great heights, unto the human eye. 
 Are lost in snowy clouds amid the eternal sky. 
 
 Thus have we learned, my friends, and hence to-night 
 This gift (which you, with secret, fond deUght, 
 Prepared and sprung upon me ere I could prevent 
 The consummation of your kind intent) 
 I dare not to despise. 
 Because, unto mine eyes 
 It ever will be yours, kept but by me 
 In trust. A Warden it will be 
 To mark and count the course of heavenly light, 
 And keep me ready for the call ; 
 And, above all. 
 This will I prize 
 As Love's own sacrifice 
 Upon the altar of true brotherhood ; 
 
 The token bright and good 
 Of warm affection's jewel, richer far 
 Than ever shone in coronet or star ; 
 
 And as I listen day by day 
 Unto its tiny beating sound. 
 That keeps true time and rhythmic harmony 
 Unto the motion of earth's daily round ; 
 So shall my heart, in all humiUty, 
 Be taught to beat the measures of eternity. 
 And learn that they 
 Are deathless only who have died — 
 The Ashlar, to be perfect, must be tried : 
 And thus, at length I may 
 Through fleeting Time's vain hopes and fears. 
 Its passing pleasures and its transient tears. 
 Become attuned unto the music of the spheres. 
 
262 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 MASONS' ANTHEM. 
 
 When Masonry, at Heaven's command 
 First shone on ancient Chaldea's plain. 
 
 There, rose the structure, huge and grand. 
 And circling angels sang the strain — 
 
 Hail, Masonry ! thou mystic Art divine. 
 
 O'er all the Earth thy light shall shine. 
 
 Unto thy shade and fostering love. 
 Proud Art and Science twined shall hie ; 
 
 And grave Religion from the grove 
 Shall to thy sheltering temples fly. 
 
 Hail, Masonry ! thou mystic Art divine. 
 
 O'er all the Earth thy light shall shine. 
 
 To thee, great kings shall bend the knee. 
 And princes proud shall guard thy throne. 
 
 Until, extending like the sea. 
 Thy gentle sway all lands shall own. 
 
 Hail, Masonry I thou mystic Art divine. 
 
 O'er all the Earth thy light shall shine. 
 
 Kingdoms shall change and disappear. 
 And mighty nations fall and pass away; 
 
 But thou shalt flourish through the years. 
 Immortal, mid a world's decay. 
 
 Hail, Masonry ! thou mystic Art divine. 
 
 O'er all the Earth thy light shall shine. 
 
 The Art of Peace thou art by birth. 
 Designed to bless, and not to ban ; 
 
 And thine the Charter of the Earth — 
 The peace and brotherhood of man. 
 
 Hail, Masonry 1 thou mystic Art divine. 
 
 O'er all the Earth thy light shall shine. 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 263 
 
 WHAT IS A MASON ? 
 
 What is a Mason? Is it he 
 
 That works with steel and stone. 
 Till cities great, in pride and state. 
 
 O'er all the land have grown; 
 And, on each tide proud navies ride 
 Triumphant o'er the stormy sea ? 
 Ah I no, that's part of his great Arti 
 
 But that alone, we will not own 
 To be the noblest Masonry. 
 
 What is a Mason ? Was it he 
 
 Who built the wondrous pile 
 That silent stands, amid the sands. 
 
 Beside the mystic Nile ; 
 Or temples grand, in Syrian land, 
 Upreared in might and majesty ? 
 Ah I no, they're part of his great Art, 
 
 But these alone, we will not own 
 To be the noblest Masonry. 
 
 What is a. Mason ? Was it he 
 
 Who ancient Greece and Rome 
 In grandeur rare and beauty fair 
 
 Adorned with tower and dome. 
 And cradled there, with loving care, 
 Proud Science and Philosophy ? 
 Ah! no; they're part of his great Art, 
 
 But these alone, we will not own 
 To be the noblest Masonry. 
 
 What is a Mason ? It is he 
 
 Who builds upon the Square, 
 Whose heart beats true to God and you 
 
 And all that's good and fair. 
 Who builds, as can, to Heaven's plan 
 The Temple of Humanity. 
 Ol that's the heart of his great Art, 
 
 And this alone, we proudly own 
 To be the noblest Masonry. 
 
264 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 THE BIGGIN O' 873. 
 
 Only once, to my knowledge, in Lodge Progress has the 
 inevitable difference of human opinion threatened to develop 
 into unbrotherliness. Happily, the misunderstanding was 
 quickly cleared away and harmony was completely restored. 
 In a lodge with such a large membership and of such rapid 
 growth the good feeUng prevalent is singularly strong. The 
 following lines were written at the time referred to and may 
 serve as a memento of a rare occurrence in 873. 
 
 It's queer, while we ken that life's no a dream. 
 
 An' things in this warld are no what they seem. 
 
 That we struggle, an' strive an' bitterly fecht 
 
 No for things in themsels, but for whase view is richt ; 
 
 An' miss a' the pleesure an' profit o' life. 
 
 In silly disputes and unbritherly strife ; 
 
 In wranglin' an' canglin' an' janglin' alang. 
 
 Ilk swearin' he's richt an' his neebor's a' wrang, 
 
 An' prepared tae assert, on his solemn OB. 
 
 Fu' crouse, it is he 
 
 That only can see 
 What's guid for the biggin o' 873. 
 
 Noo, a house on a knowe, 'gainst the sky-line keen, 
 Is a thing, ane wad think, fu' easily seen ; 
 But gin A's in the south, and B's in the east. 
 Tae baith, it is shure tae luik dif'rent at least ; 
 An' then, gin A twists and insists that his view 
 Alane is the ane that can raely be true ; 
 They will slicht an' fecht a' their micht wi ilk ither, 
 Till the view o' the hoose they lose a' th' gither : 
 And ilka ane swears in a very high key. 
 
 No far frae a D, 
 
 That He only can see 
 What's guid for the biggin o' 873. 
 
 Is it vain tae suggest that they're aiblins baith wrang, 
 And a change o' position wad sune change their sang ; 
 That their brither's no standin', nor thinkin' askew. 
 But is square tae his place and angle o' view ; 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 265 
 
 An' whan Eine's no carefu' himsel' tae stan' square. 
 He'll think 'tis his neebor that's no luikin' fair; 
 Thus haurlin' an' snarlin' an' quar'lin' ensue, 
 (Whan the hert isna' square, the e'es never true) 
 An' the plan o' the Temple he never will see 
 
 Wha thinks it is he 
 
 That only can see 
 What's guid for the biggin o' 873. 
 
 Frae these lines, let me hope, this moral ye'U draw, 
 
 Tae see e'e tae e'e is no Heaven's law ; 
 
 An' gin I've the richt tae hae my ain view. 
 
 That richt I am bound tae grant untae you ; 
 
 Tho' dif'rent points o' the circle we share, 
 
 Tae the great common Centre we may be quite Square; 
 
 As the varyin' limbs tae ae body belang ; 
 
 As, in dif'rent pairts, we sing the same sang ; 
 
 As the rainbow hues a' blend an' combine 
 
 In the brlcht clear licht, o' the warm sunshine ; 
 
 Sae, shurely, may we 
 
 In the Licht agree 
 An' work, at the biggin o' 873. 
 
 LINES TO MY FAITHFIrt. BRETHREN OF LODGE 
 PROGRESS, 29th APRIL, 1902. 
 
 O GIN I had the Muses Art 
 
 And angel-voice tae sweetly sing. 
 
 This nicht I'd mount on gleesome wing 
 An' breathe the feelin's o' my heart : 
 But ah I a' this I vainly seek. 
 My lips but lisp, my words are weak, 
 
 And ilka point sae aft I miss 
 That I can hardly daur tae speak. 
 
 For fear I say na what I wiss. 
 
 T 
 
266 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 Tho' nae man's best can e'er be dune, 
 1 aye hae tried my best tae dae. 
 An' thocht that honest wark alway 
 
 The worthy craftsman's wage wad win ; 
 
 And a' my heart's desire and care 
 
 Was makin' wark, guid, sound an' square. 
 That it micht pass the Master's test, 
 
 Markt weel, and, in the Temple fair. 
 Find its fit place, an' safely rest. 
 
 'Twas na for title, nor for gear. 
 
 That I the Master's honours wore ; 
 
 An' mystic labour gladly bore 
 Wi' you, my freens an' brethren dear ; 
 'Twas for a prize that's better far 
 Than crown or jewel, badge or star — 
 Your hearts, wherein I haply micht 
 
 Carve deep my mark, by service free. 
 An' shed some ray o' luve an' licht 
 
 Tae sweeten Life, and Masonry. 
 
 But ah 1 alas ! the human heart 
 Untae the Square is sair aglee. 
 An' guid soun' wark ye aft may see 
 Thrown ower amang the dust an' dirt : 
 For prejudice and ignorance. 
 On unco things aye luik askance. 
 An' craitship worthy fail to mark : 
 
 Thus, whiles the pur-blind overseers 
 Pay tribute due to honest wark. 
 
 In their crude censures, an' fause fears. 
 
 Yet, thanks tae Heaven that dost ordain 
 Fu' weel an' wisely everything, 
 That gude frae out o' ill may spring. 
 
 An' cross an' loss yield happy gain ; 
 
 That 'neath the threat'nin' stormy sky 
 
 Whan foes rejoice an' fause freens fly. 
 
MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 267 
 
 Aroun' ye, lallyin". stan" the true. 
 
 An' yer enriched beyond yer ken — 
 The clouds are lit in gowden hue 
 
 Wi' th' luve o' honest-hearted men. 
 
 Sae thus, dear freens, I canna say 
 
 " Alas ! my labour a' is lost " 
 
 Tho' midst the rubbish roughly tost 
 Uninjured still, it's found to-day. 
 Then, brethren, on, an' winsome be. 
 Press on, in kindly charity — 
 Heaven rules ower a', 'tis His, the plan, 
 
 An' the rejected corner stane 
 Some day, within the Temple gran' 
 
 Its place an' true reward shall gain. 
 
 THE SONG OF PROGRESS. 
 
 •Composed for and Dedicated to Lodge Progress, 
 Glasgow, No. 873. 
 
 The encircling hosts of resplendent spheres 
 
 Thro' unfathomed space are swinging. 
 And in tones, too deep for mortal ears. 
 
 They are ever, ever singing ; 
 And our hearts beat true to their mighty song 
 
 With an instinct strong, unerring. 
 As we march, march, march, as we march along 
 
 To the sound of the song, soul-stirring. 
 
 Chorus — Progress ! Progress ! Progress for ever I 
 
 Is the song we sing. 
 
 As along we swing. 
 In harmony, bright harmony together ; 
 
 And the earth and sky 
 
 Re-echo the cry — 
 Progress ! Progress ! Progress for ever ! 
 
 Brother James Steel, P. Organist 873, has composed beautiful music for this song. 
 
268 MASONIC HYMNS AND POEMS 
 
 When the springtime comes with her warm love-breath. 
 
 All the land with joy is ringing ; 
 And the earth, upraised from her winter-death. 
 
 With new life is throbbing, springing ; 
 And our hearts beat true to the impulse strong. 
 
 That thro' nature's breast is whirring. 
 As we march, march, march, as we march along 
 
 To the sound of the song, soul-stirring. 
 
 Chorus — Progress ! Progress ! Progress for ever ! etc. 
 
 In the world's grey dawn, ere the clear light shone 
 
 From the Church, or School, or College, 
 The first Mason strove, step by step, to move 
 
 Up the Winding Stair of Knowledge ; 
 And our hearts still beat with his hope full strong. 
 
 And his creedless Faith, all-daring. 
 As we march, march, march, as we mar:;h along 
 
 To the sound of the song, soul-stirring. 
 
 Chorus — Progress ! Progress ! Progress for ever ! etc. 
 
 Tho' it's step by step, tho' it's stone by stone, 
 
 Yet the Temple great is growing ; 
 And the day of Brotherhood will dawn 
 
 On its domes of Peace, all glowing. 
 For the might of Right shall yet vanquish Wrong, 
 
 If to Truth our lives we are squaring. 
 As we march, march, march, as we march along 
 
 To the sound of the song, soul-stirring. 
 
 Chorus — Progress ! Progress I Progress for ever ! 
 
 Is the song we sing. 
 
 As along we swing. 
 In harmony, bright harmony together ; 
 
 And the earth and sky 
 
 Re-echo the cry — 
 Progress! Progress I Progress for ever I 
 
■Jtetl