The
Spirit of Masonry
by Rev. Pierre Cushing, G.' C.'
Delivered Before the Grand Chapter, New York, February
6, 1913
This address suggests to us the most beautiful
principle in Masonry and becomes the Keystone of the structure,
serving both as an element of strength and
ornamentation. Most Excellent Grand High Priest and
Companions of the Grand Chapter: THERE is hardly a word in
our language which embodies a greater variety of meanings than
the word Spirit. Originally signifying breath, from Spiro, to
breathe, it ascends higher and higher in its scope until, in
Christian theology, it reaches the throne of Deity himself and is
used to designate the third Person of the Triune God. As
referring to man it means the "intelligent immaterial and
immortal part of him, the soul as distinguished from the body,"
that part "which shall survive the grave and which will never,
never, never die." So, too, institutions have their spirit, which
is their essence, their true and real intent. We speak of a line
of action or a piece of legislation as being either in harmony
with or as opposed to the spirit of our institutions. When
we speak of the spirit of Masonry we are thinking of something
apart from its membership, organization or ritual, and yet
inseparably connected with them, as the soul with the body. We
are thinking of the essential principle of Masonry, that which is
its real life and true intent, .that which like the ancient
landmarks is constant and unvarying and abiding, the same from
age to age. The Spirit of Masonry is indeed the soul of the
Institution, and it is its salt, that which has preserved it
through all the centuries, through the mutations of empires and
kingdoms, through all the storms of popular prejudice, from the
time it was first set up upon the Eastern plains down to our own
day. Far the Spirit of Masonry is that influence which,
breathing forth from its ritual, its ceremonies and its
teachings, and from the lives of its true and loyal Sons, ever
makes for the uplift of humanity, ever stands for truth and
justice, religion and piety, law and order in society at large.
How should we define it? While we speak of it as a single entity,
it has many characteristics, many manifestations; yet they are
all summed up in the Principle Tenets of our Institution,
which are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth, and as Brotherly
Love springs from the Brotherhood of Man, and the
Brotherhood of Man involves the Fatherhood of God, we may
reverently say that the Spirit of Masonry in its last analysis is
but the reflection on earth of those divine attributes of Love,
Mercy and Truth, which make up the very being and essence
of God Himself. Not, however, to dwell on this high and
august phase of our subject, but to descend to the practical, to
that which has to do with our lives and conduct as Masons,
we may further define the spirit of Masonry as a certain
attitude toward men and measures which is seen in the true
Mason, that is, in one who has really absorbed and assimilated
the teachings of the Order. And first, it is a spirit of
sober, wholesome conservatism. Masonry is strictly conservative
in one aspect of its life, first in the conditions of admission
to its membership. Its doors are not flung wide to all the world.
Those who seek to pass its threshold must be men, and selected
men. They must be believers in the ever living and true God; they
must be of lawful age and freeborn; they must be well
recommended, of good character and standing in the community.
Second, Masonry is conservative as to its secrets and
ancient landmarks. Its constant admonition and law is; "Hold that
fast which thou hast; keep that which is committed to thy trust."
Is there anything in all human engagements more solemn
and binding than the obligations to keep and preserve
the secrets of Freemasonry? Immovable as the rock-ribbed
hills are its Ancient Landmarks. Every Master, and
inferentially every High Priest, at his installation is solemnly
charged to preserve them inviolate, and to "permit no innovation
on the principles or rites of the order." And as with the secrets
and Ancient Landmarks of Masonry, so with its ritual and the
very language in which it is expressed. What careful provision
is made, what agencies are employed, that no change
or innovation shall creep in, that unauthorized shoots shall
be pruned away as soon as they appear; that all shall
be handed on in the quaint dignity and simplicity and beauty
in which we receive it from the fathers. No branch of
the historic Churches, whether Greek, Roman or Anglican,
is more conservative of its ritual than the Ancient
and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons.
Not trivial or useless is this characteristic of strong
and uncompromising conservatism. we need the spirit which
it symbolizes and fosters in this age and country, perhaps,
as never before. For, indeed, it is an age of recklessness in
act and speech. Recklessness in taking chances, in the lust
for excitement of one kind or another - in the speed mania
for instance, the victims of which each year run into
the thousands, and of which the last year furnishes one
frightful example at which the whole world shuddered with
horror; recklessness of speech, as far as many boldly
proclaimed theories and doctrines are concerned. When in some
pulpits, alas that I should say it! the integrity, the
inspiration and the authority of God's Holy Word, that Great
Light of Masonry, are assailed; when from the chair of the
university professor the sacred institution of the home, the
cornerstone of the State, is attacked; when there are some high
in office who seem to want to unwrite our Nation's history; when
the Federal Constitution, the Magna Charts of our liberties as
a free people, the Palladium of equal rights and
equal opportunity for all, is made the object of profane
and contemptuous reference, when a Governor of one of
our States, with the oath of office fresh upon his lips,
uses language like this in a public address: "To hell with
the Federal Constitution!" do we not need, my Companions, such
a nation-wide prevalence of the conservative spirit, such loyalty
to the Ancient Landmarks of our country's history, as will give
to such doctrines and such utterances the only answer they
deserve, deprive them of their poison and all their sting, and
relegate them to the scrap heap of human folly? Such a
spirit of conservatism Masonry fosters, and he who is imbued with
that spirit will be conservative in the best sense of that word.
The habit will be bred in him. Not to speak of his obligation to
keep the secrets of Masonry, which all Masons, even the expelled
and outcast from the Order, observe, he will keep all the affairs
of the Lodge and Chapter to himself and it will never be his
fault if those affairs are made the subject of conversation and
gossip outside. He will not only be conservative in speech, ever
keeping a tongue of good report, maintaining secrecy with regard
to the faults and failings of his fellowmen, save where the ends
of justice compel him to speak, but further, as is his attitude
toward the Ancient Landmarks of the Craft, such will be his
attitude toward the Ancient Landmarks of organized society
as embodied in the Home, the Church and the State, and he will
do all in his power by his example, his voice and his vote, if
need be, to preserve them. The spirit of Masonry is a spirit of
wise and wholesome conservatism. But next, the spirit of
Masonry is that of true progress and evolution. There is no
conflict here with what has just been said. Masonry is
conservative as to foundations, but progressive as to the
superstructure; conservative as to fundamental principles and
institutions, but progressive as to their application and
development. How strikingly is this symbolized in the successive
Degrees, and in the preparation required before each Degree!
Light, and yet more Light, and still further Light! Knowledge
from knowledge, knowledge built on foundations of
knowledge already laid. Such the law of Masonic Evolution. The
Mason is initiated, he is passed, he is raised, he is advanced,
he is tested, he is received and acknowledged and finally
exalted, and if he absorbed the Spirit of Masonry in these
successive steps, he will be a Progressive. I do not mean that he
will necessarily belong to the political party which goes by
that name, for Masonry is impartial to all political and
religious creeds. I mean that, while loyal to his ideals,
while conservative as to the foundations of his beliefs,
everything that makes for the true progress of society, for the
uplift of humanity, everything which stands for equal rights and
equal opportunity for all, will have his cordial approval and
support. And next, the spirit of Masonry is one of profound
and sincere reverence. Indeed, how could it be otherwise with
an institution whose cornerstone is belief in the ever living
and true God, and whose rule and guide for faith and practice
is God's most Holy Word? How could it be otherwise with
an institution whose ceremonies, ritual and teaching are
so deeply religious that there is nothing more so in all the
world, save the creeds and services of God's Holy Church? Need
I remind you, my Companions, of the still higher and
more significant meaning of that to which our attention is called
in the Second Degree, when finally we arrive at a
place representing the M.C.O.K.S.T., or of the lesson of
reverence of heart and body then and there inculcated? Recall
your impressions, your emotions, when first you passed
through those solemn ceremonies. Recall again, is a later
Degree, the representations of the awful sanctities attending
the Consecration of the Temple; think of the sacred quest,
the knightly emprise, like that of the Holy Grail, symbolized in
the Royal Arch Degree, and lastly, my Companions, reflect
on the ceremonies of your own consecration and anointing
as High Priest, and then say if the spirit of Masonry is not one
of the deepest reverence, reverence toward God, toward
His great and sacred Name, toward His Holy Word, His Day
and His Church. Indeed, the spirit of Masonry must be one
of reverence, otherwise what were some of its ceremonies but a
travesty on things most holy and divine? I remember a number of
years ago, one who had just received the Order of Anointed High
priest said to me, "That ceremony seems to me sacriligious." My
reply was, "That depends on the spirit in which you receive it;"
and the same thing is true of the ceremonies of the Church
itself. And as the spirit of Masonry is one of profound and
sincere reverence, so will the Mason who has absorbed that spirit
be reverent and will manifest his reference in his language, his
conduct and his life, by being "steadfast in the faith of his
acceptance;" by "never mentioning God's name save with that
reverential awe which is due from the creature to his Creator, by
imploring His aid in all laudable undertakings and in esteeming
Him as the highest good." The true Mason will ever be the man of
faith, the man of reverence and the man of prayer. But
the corollary of true reverence toward God is respect for
man. To look for the good in human nature, rather than the
evil; nay, to conquer the evil by developing the good, is of
the very essence and spirit of Masonic charity, self-respect
and respect for others, the acknowledgment and
the commendation of what is good and worthy in our fellow
men, no matter what difference of opinion, of creed or caste
may divide us, constitutes a distinctly Masonic virtue, and
belongs to the spirit of our Order. Furthermore, under this head
we class that spirit of chivalry which to us honors
and reverences womanhood, and ever makes for the purity
and dignity of the home, and thus the permanence and
highest welfare of the State itself. Once more, the spirit
of Masonry is one of loyalty to the civil authority. Its faith
and practice here is expressed in the words of its Greatest
Light, "The Powers that be ordained of God," therefore "Honor ail
men, love the Brotherhood, fear God, honor the King," i. e., the
Supreme Authority. Paraphrasing its own language we may say of
Masonry, "Adopting no party cry, forbidding political discussion
in its Lodge rooms, encouraging each one to be faithful to
the duties of citizenship, Masonry takes all good men by
the hand and pointing to those in whose hands the people
have placed the reins of government, bids them to 'honor
and obey the civil authority,' not with the blind submission
of slaves, but with that intelligent and loyal service which
is indeed the truest freedom." Companions, much more might
be said, and far better said, on this subject of the Spirit of
Masonry, but I feel I have detained you long enough. It has not
been my purpose to speak of that spirit as illustrated by its
direct teachings, its plain precepts, its watchwords, so much as
by its indirect, its incidental lessons. Not to speak of the
mission of Masonry, or of the avowed purposes of its existence,
its spirit as far as I have described it, that influence which
breathes from its ceremonial, its teachings and its best
exponents, that spirit of wholesome conservatism, of sane
progress, of deep reverence, and of intelligent loyalty, is a
mighty power in the world today and always a power for good.
During the political campaign of last fall we heard much of the
"invisible forces of government." Well, there is another
invisible force, silent, yet powerful, working in society today,
ever appealing to the hearts, the consciences of men, ever making
for purity and peace in the home, the Church and the nation; ever
standing for the square deal, for honor and honesty as between
man and man, and for civic righteousness in all matters of
public concern. That invisible force is the spirit of
Masonry. Permit me, in closing, to remind you, my Companions,
that we are each one of us called to be contributors to that
spirit; that as each Mason strives earnestly to exemplify
the sublime teachings of the Order in his daily life and
conduct, so will the spirit of Masonry and its consequent power
for good be more and more commensurate with its Body, with the
wonderful growth and prosperity wherewith God has blessed it in
the years that are
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