Masonic quotes by Brothers |
Help Me Maintain OUR Website!!!!!! |
a lecture on the various rituals of freemasonry from the tenth centuryby
Rev. G. Oliver, D.D. Brethren: It is rather late in life for me to appear before a Lodge of intelligent Masons in the capacity of a lecturer; and it is only the respect I entertain for Masonry that could induce me to do so. And even under the influence of that feeling, I should scarcely have ventured to solicit your attendance this evening, if I had not been under an impression that I could tell you something which is not generally known to the Fraternity. Indeed, I am satisfied, from the general tenor of my Masonic correspondence, that there are many Brethren in England who would travel over half the island, and think themselves well paid for their trouble, to acquire the information I am now about to communicate to you; not only on the ancient Rituals, but on various signs, tokens; and observances used by the Fraternity 'many years ago, and now entirely forgotten. During the last century, several revisions of the Ritual took place, each being an improvement on its predecessor, and all based on the primitive Masonic Lecture which was drawn up in the tenth century, and attached to the York Constitutions. This Lecture, to which I shall first call your attention, was in doggerel rhyme; a kind of composition which was very popular amongst our Saxon ancestors in the time of Athelstane. About the latter end of the fourteenth century, it was carefully translated from the Saxon for the use of the York Grand Lodge; and the MS. of that date is now in the British Museum. This invaluable document contains copious rules and regulations for the observance of the Craft, and is so curious, that I shall give you a specimen of it, to show the unchangeable character of the Order. It thus describes the duty of the Master:-
Here, also, we find the origin of a clause in our present Master Mason's Obligation.:
Thus did our ancient Brethren lecture eight hundred years ago, establishing a series of Landmarks which are not yet overthrown. In the reign of Edward III, A. D. 1357, the decrees of the Order ran in the following form:-
These Charges conclude with the words-" So mote It be." The first catechismal formula was introduced by Grand Master Sir Christopher Wren, about the year 1685, and was called an Examination. It was very concise, and might be gone through in ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. The Obligation was short and simple, and had no penalty; for that which is now used as a penalty formed a portion of the Examination. As thus -,"Which is the point of your entry? I hear and conceal under the penalty of having my throat cutt, or my tongue pulled out of my head." I am inclined to think that Freemasonry at this time had only one degree. You would probably like to hear a few passages from Sir Christopher's Ritual. It commenced thus:
This will be sufficient to show you in what manner the Brethren worked 180 years ago. The Craft at that time had a series of signs to make themselves known to each other as Masons, which are now obsolete; and I introduce them here as a matter of curiosity. When meeting in the street, they saluted each other by raising their hat with the thumb and two fingers only. Sometimes they would strike the inside of the little finger of the left hand three times with the forefinger of the right; or rub their right eye three times with two fingers; or they would take up a stone and ask, What it smells of? The correct answer to which was, Neither of brass, iron, or any other metal, but of a Mason.
When in a mixed company, the token was-to turn down their glass after drinking. And if any one saw a Brother misconduct himself, he exhibited his disgust by placing his open right hand on his upper lip, which served as a check to further indiscretion. The operative Fraternity in these ages had certain private signals which must have been very convenient. For instance, if a Master wanted one of his workmen from the top of a steeple, he would catch his eye, and then touch the calf of his right leg; if from any other part of the church, the left ankle. If from any secular edifice, he put his right hand behind his back. If he wanted a man at the house of rendezvous, he put his left hand behind. There were many others of a similar nature, which are now obsolete. As Masonry increased in popularity, under the patronage of noble and influential Grand Masters during the eighteenth century, many improvements were made on the primitive Ritual at different periods. The reformation was commenced by Brothers Desaguliers and Anderson, about the year 1720; and their Ritual mentions, for the first time, a " Master's Part; there was no Master's Part before 1720; and here also the Obligation is accompanied by the penalty but not a syllable is mentioned about a substituted word; on the contrary, it asserts that the lost word was actually found. I shall give you specimens of this formula in each of the three degrees, merely premising, that in those days the office of Deacon was unknown. ENTERED APPRENTICES DEGREE
FELLOWCRAFTS DEGREE
MASTER MASON'S DEGREE
The next reviser of the Ritual was Martin Clare, a Deputy.Grand .Master, and he executed his task so much to the satisfaction of the Grand. Lodge, that his Lectures were ordered to be used by all the Brethren within the limits of its jurisdiction. In accordance with this command, we find the officers of the Grand Lodge setting an example in the Provinces; and in an old Minute-Book of a Lodge in Lincoln, dated 1734, Of which Sir Cecil Wray, the Deputy Provincial. Master, was the Master, there are a series of entries through successive Lodge nights to the following effect :-"that two or more sections (as the case might be) of Martin Clare's Lectures were read; when the Master gave an elegant charge, went through an examination, and the Lodge was closed with songs and decent merriment." The following extract from these Lectures may be acceptable: -
Thirty years after the great schism which split the Society into two divisions, conventionally distinguished as Ancient and Modern-viz., in 1770-Bro. Dunckerley was commissioned by the Grand Lodge to compile an improved Ritual in all the three degrees, which he accomplished to the universal satisfaction of the Fraternity ; for Bro. Dunckerley was a very distinguished Mason. In his version, the three principal steps of the Masonic Ladder were referred to the Christian doctrine of the three states of the soul. First, in its tabernacle the body, as an illustration of Faith; then, after death, in paradise, as the fruits of Hope; and lastly, when reunited to the body in glory about the throne of God, as the sacred seat of universal Charity. The original hint at a circle and parallel lines, as important symbols of the Order, has been ascribed to him. Here, the doctrine of a substituted word was formally announced; for the true word had been transferred to the Royal Arch, which he introduced into the Grand Lodge as a legitimate degree of Masonry. As a specimen of his Lecture, take the following extract.-
I pass over the Lectures of Calcott and Hutchinson, because they were not adapted to Lodge practice. The exemplifications of York Masonry were completed by the celebrated Bro. Preston, who constructed a Ritual which contains a satisfactory survey of the system as it was undoubtedly used by the York Lodges in 1777, when the Lodge of Antiquity, of ,which Bro. Preston was a Past Master, seceded from the London Grand Lodge, and avowed an alliance with the Grand Lodge at York. Besides which, Preston was initiated in a York Lodge, and therefore became thoroughly master of all the details, as practised by both sections of the Fraternity. His Ritual was very carefully constructed; and, as might reasonably be anticipated from a Bro. of his Masonic learning and research, it contained a lucid exemplification of the ceremonies, doctrines, legends, and symbolical machinery of all the three degrees, and it is to be regretted that some of its most valuable illustrations were omitted by Dr. Hemming and his associates when the Ritual was reconstructed by the Lodge of Reconciliation in 1814. For instance, the Prestonian Lecture gave the following. beautiful definition of Masonry, which is now lost to the Craft:-
I now proceed, without further preface, to a categorical examination of the Prestonlan Ritual, compared with the Union Lectures now in use; merely premising, that this learned Bro. divided each degree into sections, and subdivided each section into clauses. This arrangement was adopted as a convenient help to memory. According to this plan, a portion of the Lecture was delivered each Lodge night-not always by the Master, but by certain Brethren who under-took the office of Sectionists and Clauseholders which relieved the Chair of much labour without being burdensome to the Brethren, as it would require a very slight application for any one member to become acquainted with a single clause. I shall confine myself to the first section of the E. A. P. Lecture; which consists of six comprehensive clauses ; each of which I will not only repeat, but explain. This section, as the Lecture expresses it, is suited to all capacities, and ought to be known by every person who wishes to rank as a Mason. It consists of general heads, which, though they be short and simple, will be found to carry weight with them. They not only serve as marks of distinction, but communicate useful and interesting knowledge when they are duly investigated. They qualify us to try and examine the rights of others to our privileges, while they demonstrate our own claim; and, as they induce us to inquire minutely into other particulars of greater importance, they serve as a proper introduction to subjects which are more amply explained in the following sections. The FIRST CLAUSE, consisting of three questions and answers only, was thus concisely expressed:
This opening clause requires a passing remark, because many persons have founded upon it a clause against us, to the effect that we are levellers; that Freemasonry, by abolishing all human distinctions, would disorganise society, and reduce it to its primitive elements. But it does no such thing, on the contrary, there is no other existing institution in this country where the grades of rank are better defined and rnore correctly preserved. For instance, look round the Lodge. The W.M. sits in the East.-as a governor-invested with power, even to despotism, if he should consider it safe to use it. And the Wardens. in the West. and South are his assistants, not his equals. Each has a particular duty assigned to him, and beyond that he has no right to interfere. The next grade are the Deacons. And what is their duty? Not surely to rank in equality with the W. M. and Wardens but to perform the part of inferiors in office, to carry messages and commands. It is their province to attend on the W. M., and to assist the Wardens in the active duties of the Lodge-such as the reception of candidates into the different degrees, and the practice of other important rites and ceremonies. This is the business of the Deacons; and by its punctual discharge, the office becomes a stepping-stone to further preferment; for, as it is incumbent on a Bro. to serve the office of a Warden before he can attain to the chair of a Lodge, so it ought to be incumbent on a Warden. to have passed 'through the grade of a Deacon although It Is not absolutely required by the Constitutions of Masonry. Such are the gradations of rank in a Mason's Lodge; and accordingly, the other officers have their respective duties to perform, and rank to support; while the floor members are bound to obey implicitly the commands of the W.M. What is there in all this which tends to the destruction of order In society? Surely nothing. How, then, are we said to meet on the Level? Why. thus; because our occupations are distinguished by the most perfect brotherly love. When the Lodge is open, the Brethren, as Brethren, whatever be their diversity of external rank, are equal; and in process working the Lodge, each bears the burden assigned to him by the W. M., in the pursuit of that common object, the acquisition of useful knowledge. But when the Lodge is closed, and the jewels put by. we part on the square, each individual resumes his rank In society and honour is given to whom honour is due. The SECOND CLAUSE runs thus
There is something apparently anomalous In this clause, which I shall point out. The Masonic tyro is said to travel from the West to the East in search of instruction. Now, another statement in the same section, as we shall soon see, affirms that he comes from the Holy Lodge of St. John, which Masonic tradition places at Jerusalem, and consequently eastward as regards this country and therefore he would in reality travel from East to West and not from West to East, as is stated in the clause. The fact is, that this passage refers simply to the a candidate at his initiation, advancing from West to East. by twelve irregular steps; irregular from the situation he was then in. being entirely ignorant where he was going; but illuding to twelve regular steps, consisting of eight lines and angles, and morally teaching upright lines and well-squared actions. The THIRD CLAUSE. -
This clause, which I consider most Important to Freemasonry, has been entirely suppressed in the last revision of the Lectures. To show its value, I may briefly remark, that It enumerates the requisites which constitute the character of a Mason, records the historical fact which conferred on the Order the honourable title of Free and Accepted;- It illustrates the universal bond of brotherhood, and specifies the principal links in the Masonic chain, including all the grades of rank by which civil society is cemented and held together. Thus evincing, that the true nature of Masonic equality does not arise merely from creation, as the children of a common parent, but more particularly from the strength of the Masonic Obligation. The clause also includes another historical fact of great importance, to demonstrate and explain why it was considered necessary that a candidate for Masonry should be able to declare that he Is the son of a free woman; a privilege to which. as Masons, as subjects of a State whose Institutions are free and beneficent-we may refer with honest pride and perfect satisfaction. The FOURTH CLAUSE:
This clause has been introduced to illustrate the subordination necessary to ensure the observance of strict discipline in the Lodge. During the progress of Freemasonry, since the revival in 1717, it has undergone many alterations. In the Examination of Sir Christopher Wren it was thus expressed:-
The Ritual of Desaguliers and Anderson exhibits this variety :-
At the present time the passage is considerably abridged. '
These variations embrace the common object of teaching courtesy and brotherly kindness; which could never be effected if every member of a Lodge were to do that only which is right in his own eyes. Confusion and disorder would undoubtedly follow such a practice. But he has something in view of a higher character than this which indeed is the real secret of Masonry; even the improvement of his mind-the government of his passions-the regulation of his discourse by a tongue of good report-and, in a word, to make due progress in the philosophy and science of the Order. The FIFTH CLAUSE: -
This is a clause of Landmarks, and very essential to be understood ; although it is differently given at the present time. I must, however, observe, that the prepositions of, at, and on, which Dr. Hemming has retained, are improperly said to include the whole ceremony of initiation, which they certainly do not. I rather prefer a beautiful illustration which was used half a century ago, and ought not to have been omitted in the modem Ritual, because it actually does include the whole ceremony of initiation. It ran thus :
The twelve original and perfect points in Masonry, in use in the ancient Lectures were 1. Opening - Reuben.
2. Preparing - Simeon
3. Reporting - Levi.
4. Entering - Judah.
5. Prayer - Zebulon.
6. Circumambulation - Issachar.
7 Advancing - Dan.
8. Obligation - Gad.
9. Intrusting - Asher.
10. Investing - Naphtali.
11. Situation - Joseph also known as Manasseh or Ephralm.
12. Closing - Benjamin.
Q. Why are they called original and perfect points? ... The explanation of these twelve points of entrance, which formed the creed of our ancient Brethren many years ago, is much more extensive, and too long for introduction towards the close of a lecture. If l were duly authorised to revise the Ritual, I should certainly restore much of the passage, although not perhaps in this introductory portion. I now proceed to the SIXTH and last CLAUSE of the first section of the E.A. P. Lecture.---
Of all the arts which Masons possess, silence or secrety is that which particularly recommends them. Tacitumity Is a proof of wisdom, and is allowed to be of the utmost importance in the different transactions of life. The best writers have declared it to be an art of Inestimable value; and that It Is agreeable to the Deity himself may be easily conceived, from the glorious example which he gives in concealing from mankind the secrets of his providence. The wisest of men cannot pry into the arcana of heaven ; nor can they divine to-day what to-morrow may bring forth. The ancient Rituals exhibit some curious variations of this clause. In the Examination of Sir Christopher Wren, the illustration ran thus
Desaguliers made a slight alteration, and exemplified it in this manner.
At the present day it is thus given, as you all know
In the modern Tracing Board this emblem, which constitutes an immovable Landmark, is most unaccountably and improperly omitted. The key is one of the most important symbols of Freemasonry, and ought to be prominently kept in view. To the uninitiated or imperfectly taught Mason, it bears the appearance of an inanimate metal instrument, whose use is obviously confined to the performance of one simple act, and is applied masonically as the insignia of the Treasurer. But the well-instructed Brother views it with a different eye. He beholds in it the member, which, according to its use and application, is the greatest blessing, or the greatest curse, to man. If improperly used. it is a fire, a world of iniquity, -untamable,-an unruly evil, full of deadly poison, -it defileth the whole body, as an inspired apostle asserts,-it setteth on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire of hell. This mass of evil the consideration of our Masonic key is intrusted to correct; for it represents not a slanderous tongue but a tongue of good report, which will always hang in a Brother's defence, and never lie to his prejudice; or in other words, will speak as well of a Brother in his absence as in his presence; because when present, he is able to defend himself, and if. unfortunately, that cannot be done with propriety, to adopt the distinguishing virtue of the science; for where candour cannot commend, then silence will at least avoid reproach. This section of the E.A.P. Lecture contains a beautiful display of the purest morality. What indeed can be more estimable than the spirit of brotherly love which is here inculcated? Can anything have a more direct tendency to promote the glory of God, peace on earth, and good-will towards men? This is the use and end, the golden rule of Freemasonry. Consider, abstractedly, the moral which it teaches. It instructs you as Brethren to dwell together in unity. It teaches you to imitate the innocence of the lamb, and the peacefulness of the dove ; and to let the head, the tongue, and the heart be united, as they ought, to promote each other's welfare, and to rejoice in each other's prosperity. It admonishes you to be candid to a Brother's faults; and never to condemn, until you are thoroughly convinced of his unworthiness ; and even then to adopt this golden rule-Always speak well of a Brother. if you speak of him at all; but, if you cannot do so with strict justice-say nothing. This, while it gives him an opportunity to repent, and retrieve his reputation, will contribute to your own peace of mind, and you will thus avoid those dissensions and disputes which are never creditable and often dangerous. Thus I conclude my Lecture, If it has afforded you any information or instruction, I shall feel myself amply repaid for my exertions. VARIATIONS IN THE RITUALIn the year 1720, the following questions and answers occur
N.B. This Is the only mention of Hiram in the Ritual. |
[What is Freemasonry] [Leadership
Development] [Education] [Masonic
Talks] [Masonic
Magazines Online] This site is not an official site of any recognized Masonic body in the United
States or elsewhere. Last modified: March 22, 2014 |