Masonic History, Its Intentions And Shortcomings.

delicately-squared and polished stones . But , while admitting their precision and master craft , let us at least indicate where perhaps they have failed . Later-day theology is greatly agitated by the advances of the so-called "higher criticism . " In itself it is laudable ,

in that it seeks to discover truth hidden under the glosses of the ignorant centuries . But by a violent reaction from blind faith and over-credulity it has become destructive in the extreme and has unsettled the convictions and faith of many . So the " higher critics" have invaded Masonry and have

also passed to the extreme . They have rejected all of legend , or retain only such as serves to corroborate their position , forgetting that Masonry is essentially symbolic , and that in every myth of the world , sacred and profane , patient work is only needed to discover historic truth . They have reduced

their theory to a series of propositions so bald and so narrow as to be absolutely repellent . It is their fundamental article of faith that speculative Masonry is a mere outgrowth of the English operative guild , from which it derived its name and outward form ; that this second-rate middle age society was

seized upon m \ J \ J by a coterie of men who found its form adapted to their purposes , and who at once incorporated into it certain speculative features not before present . It is

further alleged that within a few years from the date of re-institution the present degrees had been formulated and Masonry as it exists to-day was created . It is with them apparently a case of spontaneous generation .

The weakness of their position is apparent in this : That while they have perhaps accounted truly for the body of the Fraternity , its soul or vital principle , which makes it different and superior to all other societies on earth , is utterly ignored . The statement that " now Masonry became speculative "

explains nothing . That which is soulless is wholly evil . He who created the Frankenstein brought a curse upon himself and his friends . Neither is a mystic principle manufactured to order and incorporated with an alien body . The future history of Masonry , when written , will utilise the work of

these men in tracing the outward form of the Craft to the building societies of England and the continent and perhaps to the Roman artificers whom Numa is said to have organised . These operatives builded the temples of classic paganism and the cathedrals of Christendom , and Masonry has preserved

their symbols , in some cases with new and more important meanings attached . The future history will likely reject the petty fable that King Athelstane gathered all Masons at York and gave them great privileges beyond all other craftsmen . It will in all cases use Ihe true and discard the fals ^ ,

as these indefatigable surveyors in the field have done . But when it comes to the treatment of Speculative Masonry it will not be content until it shall have traced this same speculative element to a probable source . For herein lies the antiquity , the grandeur , the strength and the undying qualities of the

fraternity we love . It is something more than a mere collection of men banded together to aid each other in things material , to perpetuate certain legends , to perform certain ritualistic requirements , to impart certain signs of recognition and to insist on certain obligations and duties . If this were

all , it is neither better nor worse than its hosts of imitators . If this were all , it would have fallen to pieces long ago . Perhaps I may be able to indicate briefly the soul of Masonry , and may perhaps point out to you the path you must take would you trace it back through the ages .

Human activities constitute the sum of history . In its pages kings are but puppets , battlefields but stage pictures to hold the eye . The real interest and value of history is not in the glory or horror of war , not in the rise and fall of dynasties or even of nations , but in the lives of men who have

lived and worked before us , men who had the same hopes and fears , ambitions and passions and follies like ourselves . The undercurrents of history escape notice ; the popular writer and the general reader take no account of the subtle influences that mould a people or a race . Religion and

fraternity have done most ; yes , nearly all , in the work of elevating man from savagery to his present position . Yet both have been , and are now , essentially secret influences in the world . To this latter statement it may be objected that religion is and has ever been an open institution . True , it

formulates a creed—certain broad propositions to which its followers must subscribe . But from these each individual must deduce his own working faith , and the secret religion of each will differ from that of his fellows as does his physical and mental being . So , too , in Masonry and in all the secret cults of all the ages , The broad principles taught within the

Masonic History, Its Intentions And Shortcomings.

closed doors of the adytum or the Lodge are not the real secrets , ihese but iumish the foundation . Every Mason must build for himself the superstructure of speculation and morality , and these will also differ in final form as the men themselves differ .

The influence of the ancient esoteric systems on the civilisations of their times can hardly be estimated . Ihe secret societies have always represented the intellect of a people or race . The priests and sages who ruled Egypt were inducted into the Osiric mysteries and taught withm their

temples a pure faith and an advanced science , ihe initiates of the Mithraic rite ruled Persia at the period of its greatest grandeur . The wonderful cults of India handed down from some prehistoric source a knowledge far beyond thali

possessed by the profane outside their wide-spread fraternity . The high civilisation of Greece was supplemented by the hidden wisdom preserved from generation to generatn . i m the Eleusinian mysteries . The Romans in the Dionysiac cult eschewed the idolatry of their times .

The latest of these heathen mysteries continued for several centuries into the time of the Christian era . They influenced Christian Gnosticism , and that the formation of the church . Nor were the jews without their secret seqts . That one of most interest to us is perhaps Essenes , to which

certain authorities have sought to trace ithe Masonic institution by direct descent . To this rigid and austere body belonged St J ohn the Baptist and St . J ohn the Evangelist , and from the evidence of his own words we must believe that the Master Himself was an initiate of this or its rival sect of the

Nazorites . The Christian church itself in its earliest days was a secret society and the writings of the church fathers are full of warnings against giving to profanes , or to those not fully prepared , the final mysteries of the faith . Nay , more ,

a recent acute writer argues that the heads of the Roman church to-day have preserved a hidden doctrine which is still imparted in secret to those who control ecclesiastical policy from the Vatican .

But to trace the Masonic system of speculation we must work backward . We cannot place our ringer at any page of history and make positive assertion that here such and

such a part of our system had its origin . Masonic symbolism and that which it veils is the heritage of all the ages , ihe inspiration of all creeds have contributed to its substance , and it contains the gist of all philosophies .

Let us in the few minutes left to us for this discussion analyse the fundamental principles of the Fraternity . Three things there are to which all our rituals tend , which all our symbols illustrate—the Fatherhood of God , the Brotherhood of man and the persistence of life beyond the grave . The

tragedy of the temple is intended to convey the latter truth in impressive object lesson . So the ancient neophyte on the banks of the Nile represented Osiris slain by Typhon or in Greece underwent the mystic death in , the person of him whom Demeter sought with wailings .

One convincing argument for the direct descent of Masonry from the ancient mysteries is the similarity in symbol and ceremony . Two explanations only are possible—one , as above , that the Fraternity directly inherits , the other that the human mind has coincidentally operated in similar channels

under widely dissimilar circumstances . It will tax © in credulity too far to believe that the men of the eighteenth century interested in reviving Masonry from its low estate , adopted by mere coincidence the symbols to which former

ages had g iven definite and sacred meaning . Nor was it a borrowed affair , for archaeology was a science unknown in the time of Anderson and his colleagues , mythology as a study little understood , and comparative treatment of cults and faiths altogether a thing of the future .

With the future kind indulgence of the Worshipful Master and the patience of the Brethren , I hope to point out the nature of our symbols and the meanings which the ancients attached to them . Suffer me in a few words to note a few of them to reinforce my argument at this time . In all

the ancient mysteries three principal Officers conducted the rites , those in India , for instance , representing the Deity under the forms of Brahma , Vishnu and Siva . The temples or places of initiation were always oriented and the east was always the place of honour . The candidate was always

conducted by a cord or cable tow . Virgil , the Roman poet , speaking of the Dionysians , says .- " First I surround thee with three pieces of list , and I carry thee three times around the altar . " In China and in India 'the square and compass bore in the religious mysteries a significance such as it