READING MASONS AND MASONS WHO DO NOT READ
by Bro. Albert G. Mackey, M. D.
The
Master Mason - October 1924
An essay first published in 1875 I SUPPOSE THERE are more Masons
who are ignorant of all the principles of Freemasonry than there
are men of any other class who are chargeable with the like
ignorance of their own profession, There is not a watchmaker who
does not know something about the elements of horology, nor is
there a blacksmith who is altogether unacquainted with the
properties of red-hot iron. Ascending to the higher walks of
science, we would be much astonished to meet with a lawyer who
was ignorant of the elements of jurisprudence, or a physician
who had never read a treatise on pathology, or a clergyman who
knew nothing whatever of theology. Nevertheless, nothing is more
common than to encounter Freemasons who are in utter darkness as
to every thing that relates to Freemasonry. They are ignorant of
its history - they know not whether it is a mushroom production
of today, or whether it goes back to remote ages for its origin.
They have no comprehension of the esoteric meaning of its
symbols or its ceremonies, and are hardly at home in its modes
of recognition. And yet nothing is more common than to find such
scholiasts in the possession of high degrees and sometimes
honored with elevated affairs in the Order, present at the
meetings of lodges and chapters, intermeddling with the
proceedings, taking an active part in all discussions and
pertinaciously maintaining heterodox opinions in opposition to
the judgment of brethren of far greater knowledge. Why, it
may well be asked, should such things be? Why, in Masonry alone,
should there be so much ignorance and so much presumption? If I
ask a cobbler to make me a pair of boots, he tells me that he
only mends and patches, and that he has not learned the higher
branches of his craft, and then hie honestly declines the
offered job. If I request a watchmaker to construct a
mainspring for my chronometer, he answers that he cannot do it,
that he has never learned how to make mainsprings, which belongs
to a higher branch of the business, but that if I will bring him
a spring ready made, he will insert it in my timepiece, because
that he knows how to do. If I go to an artist with an order to
paint me an historical picture, he will tell me that it is
beyond his capacity, that he has never studied nor practiced the
comportion of details, but has confined himself to the painting
of portraits. Were he dishonest and presumptuous he would take
my order and instead of a picture give me a daub. It is
the Freemason alone who wants this modesty. He is too apt to
think that the obligation not only makes him a Mason, but a
learned Mason at the same time. He too often imagines that the
mystical ceremonies which induct him into the Order are all that
are necessary to make him cognizant of its principles. There are
some Christian sects who believe that the water of baptism at
once washes away all sin, past and prospective. So there are
some Masons who think that the mere act of initiation is at once
followed by an influx of all Masonic knowledge. They need no
further study or research. All that they require to know has
already been received by a sort of intuitive process. The
great body of Masons may be divided into three classes. The
first consists of those who made their application for
initiation not from a desire for knowledge, but from some
accidental motive, not always honorable. Such men have been led
to seek reception either because it was likely, in their
opinion, to facilitate their business operations, or to advance
their political prospects, or in some other way to personally
benefit them. In the commencement of a war, hundreds flock to
the lodges in the hope of obtaining the "mystic sign," which
will be of service in the hour of danger. Their object having
been attained, or having failed to attain it, these men become
indifferent and, in time, fall into the rank of the
non-affiliates. Of such Masons there is no hope. They are dead
trees having no promise of fruit. Let them pass as utterly
worthless, and incapable of improvement. THERE IS A
second class consisting of men who are the moral and Masonic
antipodes of the first. These make their application for
admission, being prompted, as the ritual requires, "by a
favorable opinion conceived of the Institution, and a desire of
knowledge." As soon as they are initiated, they see in the
ceremonies through which they have passed, a philosophical
meaning worthy of the trouble of inquiry. They devote themselves
to this inquiry. They obtain Masonic books, they read Masonic
periodicals, and they converse with well-informed brethren. They
make themselves acquainted with the history of the Association.
They investigate its origin and its ultimate design. They
explore the hidden sense of its symbols and they acquire the
interpretation. Such Masons are always useful and honorable
members of the Order, and very frequently they become its
shining lights. Their lamp burns for the enlightenment of
others, and to them the Institution is indebted for whatever of
an elevated position it has attained. For them, this article is
not written. But between these two classes, just described,
there is an intermediate one; not so bad as the first, but far
below the second, which, unfortunately, comprises the body of
the Fraternity. THIS THIRD CLASS consists of Masons who
joined the Society with unobjectionable motives, and with,
perhaps the best intentions. But they have failed to carry these
intentions into effect. They have made a grievous mistake. They
have supposed that initiation was all that was requisite to make
them Masons, and that any further study was entirely
unnecessary. Hence, they never read a Masonic book. Bring to
their notice the productions of the most celebrated Masonic
authors, and their remark is that they have no time to read-the
claims of business are overwhelming. Show them a Masonic journal
of recognized reputation, and ask them to subscribe. Their
answer is, that they cannot afford it, the times are hard and
money is scarce. And yet, there is no want of Masonic
ambition in many of these men. But their ambition is not in the
right direction. They have no thirst for knowledge, but they
have a very great thirst for office or for degrees. They cannot
afford money or time for the purchase or perusal of Masonic
books, but they have enough of both to expend on the acquisition
of Masonic degrees. It is astonishing with what avidity some
Masons who do not understand the simplest rudiments of their
art, and who have utterly failed to comprehend the scope and
meaning of primary, symbolic Masonry, grasp at the empty honors
of the high degrees. The Master Mason who knows very little, if
anything, of the Apprentice's degree longs to be a Knight
Templar. He knows nothing, and never expects to know anything,
of the history of Templarism, or how and why these old crusaders
became incorporated with the Masonic brotherhood. The height of
his ambition is to wear the Templar cross upon his breast. If he
has entered the Scottish Rite, the Lodge of Perfection will not
content him, although it supplies material for months of study.
He would fain rise higher in the scale of rank, and if by
persevering efforts he can attain the summit of the Rite and be
invested with the Thirty-third degree, little cares he for any
knowledge of the organization of the Rite or the sublime lessons
that it teaches. He has reached the height of his ambition and
is permitted to wear the double-headed eagle. SUCH MASONS
are distinguished not by the amount of knowledge that they
possess, but by the number of the jewels that they wear. They
will give fifty dollars for a decoration, but not fifty cents
for a book. These men do great injury to Masonry. They have
been called its drones. But they are more than that. They are
the wasps, the deadly enemy of the industrious bees. They set a
bad example to the younger Masons - they discourage the growth
of Masonic literature - they drive intellectual men, who would
be willing to cultivate Masonic science, into other fields of
labor - they depress the energies of our writers - and they
debase the character of Speculative Masonry as a branch of
mental and moral philosophy. When outsiders see men holding high
rank and office in the Order who are almost as ignorant as
themselves of the principles of Freemasonry, and who, if asked,
would say they looked upon it only as a social institution,
these outsiders very naturally conclude that there cannot be
anything of great value in a system whose highest positions are
held by men who profess to have no knowledge of its higher
development. IT MUST NOT be supposed that every Mason is
expected to be a learned Mason, or that every man who is
initiated is required to devote himself to the study of Masonic
science and literature. Such an expectation would be foolish and
unreasonable. All men are not equally competent to grasp and
retain the same amount of knowledge. Order, says Pope
- Order is heaven's first law and this confest, Some are,
and must be, greater than the rest, More rich, more
wise. All that I contend for is, that when a candidate enters
the fold of Masonry he should feel that there is something in it
better than its mere grips and signs, and that he should
endeavor with all his ability to attain some knowledge of that
better thing. He should not seek advancement to higher degrees
until he knew something of the lower, nor grasp at office,
unless he had previously fulfilled with some reputation for
Masonic knowledge, the duties of a private station. I once knew
a brother whose greed for office led him to pass through all the
grades from Warden of his lodge to Grand Master of the
jurisdiction, and who during that whole period had never read a
Masonic book nor attempted to comprehend the meaning of a single
symbol. For the year of his Mastership he always found it
convenient to have an excuse for absence from the lodge on the
nights when degrees were to be conferred. Yet, by his personal
and social influences, he had succeeded in elevating himself in
rank above all those who were above him in Masonic knowledge.
They were really far above him, for they all knew something, and
he knew nothing. Had he remained in the background, none could
have complained. But, being where he was, and seeking himself
the position, he had no right to be ignorant. It was his
presumption that constituted his offense. A more striking
example is the following: A few years ago while editing a
Masonic periodical, I received a letter from the Grand Lecturer
of a certain Grand Lodge who had been a subscriber, but who
desired to discontinue his subscription. In assigning his
reason, he said (a copy of the letter is now before me),
"although the work contains much valuable information, I shall
have no time to read, as I shall devote the whole of the present
year to teaching." I cannot but imagine what a teacher such a
man must have been, and what pupils he must have
instructed. THIS ARTICLE is longer than I intended it to be.
But I feel the importance of the subject. There are in the
United States more than four hundred thousand affiliated Masons.
How many of these are readers? One-half - or even one-tenth? If
only one-fourth of the men who are in the Order would read a
little about it, and not depend for all they know of it on their
visits to their lodges, they would entertain more elevated
notions of its character. Through their sympathy scholars would
be encouraged to discuss its principles and to give to the
public the results of their thoughts, and good Masonic magazines
would enjoy a prosperous existence. NOW, BECAUSE there are so
few Masons that read, Masonic books hardly do more than pay the
publishers the expense of printing, while the authors get
nothing; and Masonic journals are being year after year carried
off into the literary Acaldama, where the corpses of defunct
periodicals are deposited; and, worst of all, Masonry endures
depressing blows. The Mason who reads, however little, be it
only the pages of the monthly magazine to which he subscribes,
will entertain higher views of the Institution and enjoy new
delights in the possession of these views. The Masons who do not
read will know nothing of the interior beauties of Speculative
Masonry, but will be content to suppose it to be something like
Odd Fellowship, or the Order of the Knights of Pythias - only,
perhaps, a little older. Such a Mason must be an indifferent
one. He has laid no foundation for zeal. If this
indifference, instead of being checked, becomes more widely
spread, the result is too apparent. Freemasonry must step down
from the elevated position which she has been struggling,
through the efforts of her scholars, to maintain, and our
lodges, instead of becoming resorts for speculative and
philosophical thought, will deteriorate into social clubs or
mere benefit societies. With so many rivals in that field, her
struggle for a prosperous life will be a hard one. The
ultimate success of Masonry depends on the intelligence of her
disciples. back to top
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