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

Front matter

A

Book_ /'r ■■ i>

Copyright N?.__

Preface

This book is a revision and condensation of several lec¬ tures 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 published, mainly through the labours of a Pub¬ lication 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 Prov¬ ince 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 has merely formed a pleasant relaxa¬ tion 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.

t

Contents

I: The Mission Generally Considered

1 . The Meaning of the Words “Mission” and “Masonry” 19

2 . The Quest of the Ideal . . . . . .21

PART II: THE EVOLUTION OF SPECULATIVE MASONRY I: Origins Ascribed to Masonry

1. The Historical Difficulties .133

2. Some of the Theories Advanced .134

3. Its Evolution Most Likely Along the Lines of Opera¬

tive Building . . . . . . . .138

II: Ancient Symbolism and Mysteries

1. Antiquity of Masonic Symbolism , . . .140

2. The Ancient Mysteries .142

III: The Roman Collegia and Medieval Guilds

2. Identity of the Collegia with the Guilds in England . 146

3. Identity of the Collegia with the Guilds in France . 149

IV: The French Companionage

1. The Three Organisations and Their Traditions .. .. 152

2. Interesting Customs and Rules .154

3. The “Wolves” of the Sons of Solomon and the Ma¬

4. Similarities of the Companionage and Freemasonry . 157

V: The German Stein-Metzen

1. The Name and Origin of the Organisation . > 161

2. The Culdees .162

3. The German Guilds and Stein-Metzen . . .166

VI: The Old British Lodges

1 . The Old Charges .171

2. The Speculative Element in the Old Lodges . . 175

3. Degrees in the Old Lodges .180

CONTENTS xix

VII: Summary

1. Characteristic Points Common to the Organisations

Considered .183

2. Conclusion . . ..189

PART III: THE LANDMARKS OF SPECULATIVE MASONRY I: The Nature and Divisions of the Landmarks

1. What Landmarks Are .195

2. The Divisions of the Landmarks .... 200

3. First Division , Section A.—A Secret Mode of Recog¬

nition by Its Members . . . ... . .202

4. First Division , Section B. — The Tyling of the Lodge 205 5.. First Division , Section C.—The Qualifications of Can¬ didates . . . .206

6. Second Division , Section C.—The Conditions of Ad¬

vancement . . ..211

7. Third Division , Section A. — The Principal Points in

“Opening” and in “Closing” a Lodge . . . 214

8. Third Division , Section B. — The Principal Points in

“Entering” “Passing” and “Raising > . . . 216

9. Fourth Division, Section B. — The Powers and Duties

of the Master , and Officers , and of the Lodge . 220

II: Misconceptions Regarding the Landmarks

1. That the Landmarks Are Fixed and Unalterable . 224

2. That the Landmarks Fix the Lodge Ceremonies

Verbatim et Literatim .226

3. How Misconceptions Have Been Formed . . . 229

III: The Landmarks and Progress

1. The Landmarks No Hindrance to Progress . . 232

2. The Teachings of History and Nature . . . 234

3. The Temple of Brotherhood and Peace Is the Great

Landmark .236

XX

CONTENTS

Appendix

The Lazv of the Square in the Cross

The Temple of King Solomon . . . .

Part II: The Evolution of Speculative Masonry The Historical Difficulties

PAGE

“It is in and through symbols that man, consciously or unconsciously, lives, 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 replied: ‘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 encouragement 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. I.

Chapter I (i) 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 to¬ gether, 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 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 Eng¬ lish “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 under¬ stood 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 dis¬ tinguish 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 “Free¬ masonry” may be used as terms of convenience, com¬ monly understood; but neither etymologically nor his¬ torically 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 be¬ tween them and operative members. The qualifications 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 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 moral, 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 evolution 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, accord¬ ing 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. No¬ where 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 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 trembling 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 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 innum¬ erable 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 satisfatory 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, “Fd 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.

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 happi¬ ness; 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 ma¬ terial 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 trage¬ dies, the tears and smiles, the villainies and heroisms, the hatreds and the loves of mankind and, when it has served its purpose, it will disappear.

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 ma¬ terial 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,

“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 downwards. 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 lies in serving, not in ruling; that honour con¬ sists in growing better, not in getting grander; and that happiness comes more from well-doing than through do¬ ing 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 accord¬ ing to the plan of the Divine Temple, if the structure is to be established 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 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 sub¬ sidiary 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 organisation, 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 en¬ quire 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 Univer¬ sity, 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 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 symbolism. It instructs in no special art, yet in it all the arts are honoured. It has no religious creed, yet re¬ ligion 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 re¬ ceived 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 everything needful for the healthy life of His workmen. Nothing is wanting. We have abundance. But, alas! its distribu¬ tion 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 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 pur¬ pose 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 Samari¬ tan 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. 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 hu¬ manity 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 ac¬ customed to the intricacies of scientific and philosophic research and hence the ploughman has often the advan¬ tage 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.

There is, therefore, something in us apart from the material—something capable of directing all our knowl¬ edge and powers in the work of life. This faculty we call conscience. Like every faculty it is capable of de¬ velopment 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 mo¬ ment 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 folly 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, can¬ not rightly see the Divine Plan of the Great Temple. The very fact that scaffolding exists is a proof that a Temple is to be. 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 limited. 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 pres¬ sure 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 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 all. 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 themselves against us, but neither the storms of adversity, nor life, nor death itself can move us. Our lives will become con¬ secrated Temples. It matters little what our occupations may be, they will become sacred. In this light, the work¬ shop and the counting-house, the forge and the exchange, will be glorified as part of the Great Plan; and we our¬ selves 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?”

To this question there appears but one answer possible and that is a sad “No.” Masons are not earnestly striv¬ ing to work to the Ideal Plan. They glorify their ancient and honourable Order in terms bordering on the bom¬ bastic, and sometimes even running into the ridiculous, yet how often are its symbols dishonoured and its cere¬ monies 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 faithfully 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 intrantsimight 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 mem¬ bers have studied them, and learned the truths they con¬ tain.

One of the causes of this condition of things is the 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 object 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 will 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:—