THE CHARGES OF A FREEMASON
In many installation services is to be found the instruction to a Master to
"cause the Book of Constitutions to be read in your Lodge." The "Book of
Constitutions, guarded by the Tiler's Sword" is found in practically all Masonic
rituals. A very large part of the content of Masonic teaching, and much of our
degree philosophy, comes from the Constitutions, both the Old Manuscript, and
the "modern" (sic!) adaptation of them made by Anderson. Yet - how many brethren
have ever read Anderson for themselves? How many Masters have "caused them to be
read" in their Lodges?
Doubtless every Craftsman would be the better informed if he read Anderson's
Constitutions of 1723, knew the "Old Charges", and was familiar with the
"General Regulations", but unfortunately the book is hard to get, for many, and
rather forbidding in length and old style print. A few modern codes of laws in
certain Jurisdictions reprint some or all, but the average member of a Lodge
seldom reads, let alone possesses, a copy of his Jurisdiction's Code! A
facsimile reprint of the ancient, rare and valuable book is the first volume of
the Little Masonic Library, and of course the larger Masonic libraries of the
nation have originals, but even so, the work is unfamiliar to the great
majority.
As a whole the book is too long for even a brief review. The General
Regulations occupy many pages, as does the fanciful, romantic and wholly
inaccurate history of the Craft which forms its beginning. From the standpoint
of the average Mason, the heart of the whole is found in the Charges - the "Old
Charges" as they are customarily called, the "Charges of a Freemason" as they
are denominated in the book itself.
These purport to give the whole duty of a Mason to himself, his country, his
fellows, his Lodge, and the people with whom he lives. That is rather a large
order to pack under six headings, and Freemasonry as we know it has amplified,
enlarged and stressed much more than is set forth in the Old Charges. But the
basis, the foundation, of many of the philosophies and high teachings of the
Ancient Craft are here to be found. They are not less, rather are they more,
interesting and romantic when thought of in connection with the formal age in
which they were first reduced to print by the eminent, hard working, if somewhat
inaccurate Dr. James Anderson.
Anderson was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and was a Master of Arts of the
Marischal College of that city. In London he was a minister in a Presbyterian
Chapel for almost a quarter of a century. Just where Anderson was made a Mason
is not known; nor do we know just when he joined in London, nor the name of the
Lodge of which he was Master. Although he himself gives other reasons for the
writing of the "Constitutions" it seems probable that it was largely a private
venture, even if it was sanctioned by Grand Lodge. What Grand Lodge apparently
did not sanction was the liberties he took with Payne's regulations, and
probably with some of the Charges.
As printed by Anderson the Old Charges are set forth under six "General
Heads" which are, "Of God and Religion", "Of the Civil Magistrate Supreme and
Subordinate", "Of Lodges", "Of Masters, Wardens, Fellows and Apprentices", "Of
the Management of the Craft in Working" and "Of Behavior, (1) In the Lodge while
constituted, (2) After the Lodge is over and the Brethren not gone, (3) When the
Brethren meet without strangers but not in a Lodge, (4) In the presence of
strangers not Masons, (5) At home and in the neighborhood, and (6) Towards a
strange Brother."
"Of God and Religion" sets forth the duty of a Mason to obey the moral law,
and also includes that passage on which Masonic religious tolerance is based:
"But though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the
religion of that country of nation, whatever it was, yet 'tis now thought more
expedient only to oblige them to that Religion in which all men agree."
Here also is the fount from which springs the admonition that by the
association of good men and true, Masonry becomes "the means of conciliating
true friendship among persons that must have remained at a perpetual distance."
"Of the Civil Magistrate, Supreme and Subordinate" is along paragraph
concerned with the relation of a Mason to the "Civil Powers". It forbids
rebellion, plots and conspiracies, and states that Masonry flourishes in peace
and is injured by war, bloodshed and confusion. Here again toleration is
stressed, for although "a loyal Brotherhood" must not countenance a brother in
rebellion, yet if he is a real rebel, the brethren cannot expel him from the
Lodge because of that crime alone, "his relation to it remains indefeasable."
"Of Lodges" exhorts the brother always to belong to one - i.e., not be an
unaffiliated Mason. It also speaks of the need of obeying a summons, and closes
with the statement, in which all Jurisdictions now concur, that "The persons
admitted members of a Lodge must be good men and true, freeborn, and of a mature
and discrete age, no bondmen, no women, no immoral or scandalous men, but of
good report."
The fourth Charge "Of Masters, Wardens, Fellows and Apprentices" might easily
be more observed than it is in these days when "the line" is almost sacrosanct
and many a Lodge suffers because some careless or indifferent brother is
"advanced" from year to year, merely because he started, not because of a
fitness for being a Warden or Master. This Charge begins: "All preferment among
Masons is grounded upon real worth and personal merit" and states that "no
Master or Warden is chosen by seniority but by merit." It reiterates the
necessity of physical perfection - indeed, we have named that requirement the
"doctrine of the perfect youth" from words used in this Charge. It goes on to
hold out to the diligent brother the possibility of his becoming a Warden,
Master, Grand Warden and finally Grand Master. The qualifications of a brother
to be elected Grand Master are set forth; he must have been a Fellow-Craft
before his election, be nobly born, or a "Gentleman of the Best Fashion" or an
eminent scholar, curious architect or other artist, descended of honest parents
and possess "singular great merit" in the opinion of the Lodge. It is roundly
stated that the Grand Master "has power to chuse his own Deputy Grand Master" -
which, by the way, is done in but three Grand Jurisdictions in this country.
Finally, the Charge abjures all brethren to obey their rulers "with all
humility, reverence, love and alacrity."
"Of the management of the Craft in Working" demands honest labor on working
days, that the most expert be chosen Master or Overseer of the Lord's work, that
Craftsmen avoid bad language and call no names, but behave courteously, that the
Master be reasonable in his charges and pay only honest wages. It forbids envy
of a brother and commands that no one "supplant him or put him our of his work
if he be capable of finishing the same"; requires honesty and loyalty and
satisfaction with wages, forbids mutiny (strikes?), enjoins proper instruction
for younger brethren, sets forth that working tools must be approved by Grand
Lodge and ends with an admonition that no laborer is to be employed where Masons
may be used, and that Freemasons shall not work with those not free, nor teach
laborers and unaccepted Masons as they should teach a brother or fellow.
The final charge "Of Behavior" is most explicit. Brethren are not to hold
private committees without leave of the Master nor interrupt any one speaking to
the Master. No jesting behavior is to be tolerated when the Lodge is engaged
upon solemn business. Masters and Wardens are to receive reverence and be "put
to worship". Brethren must submit to the determination of the Lodge in any case
of complaint unless appeal is carried to the Grand Lodge, and "you must never go
to law about what concerneth Masonry, without an absolute necessity apparent to
the Lodge."
After Lodge is over brethren may enjoy themselves "with innocent mirth". No
one is obliged to eat or drink if he does not wish to, and harmony is to be
preserved. Private quarrels are forbidden, and especially are the brethren
enjoined against quarrels about religion, politics and state policy.
Masons who fleet each other outside the Lodge are to be courteous to one
another, and it is especially noted that while brethren are upon the same level,
yet Masonry does not take from a man the honors which are his before he became
so; the brethren are to "give honor to whom it is due and avoid ill manners."
All brothers are to be cautious in words and carriage before strangers "and
sometimes you shall divert a discourse and manage it prudently for the honor of
the worshipful fraternity."
A good brother acts as a moral and wise man; he does not let family, friend
or neighbors know of the Lord's business, and he conserves his health by not
staying out late after Lodge is closed and "avoiding of gluttony or drunkness,
that your families be not neglected or injured, nor you disabled from working."
The strange brother is to be cautiously examined, "that you may not be
imposed upon by an ignorant false pretender." But when a true and genuine
brother is found in want, "you must relieve him if you can or else direct how he
may be relieved, but not beyond your ability, only to prefer a poor Brother,
that is a good man and true before any other poor People in the same
circumstances."
The final long paragraph commands the cultivation of brotherly love 'the
foundation and capestone, the cement and glory of this ancient fraternity." It
forbids slander and enjoins defense of the character of an honest brother. It
again suggests that Lodge and Grand Lodge are better mediators for the
adjustment of disputes than law so "that all may see the benign influence of
Masonry as all true Masons have done from the beginning of the World and will do
to the end of time."
Such, in brief sketch, are the Ancient Charges, Old Charges or "Charges of a
Freemason" as they were printed for the Mother Grand Lodge in 1723. They were
not inventions of Anderson. Discredited as is his accuracy in many matters,
particularly when he writes what he called history, and, apparently, wilfully
inaccurate for personal purposes in some, things, he nevertheless must have set
down the underlying principles of the fraternity as they were known in his day
and age. Many of these ideas are based upon provisions in the oldest manuscript
Constitutions, especially the Cooke. Anderson never saw the Regius manuscript,
but many of the statements in that oldest Masonic document are repeated in later
manuscript Constitutions, some of which Anderson had.
Doubtless Anderson added somewhat of himself, indeed, he is known to have
altered texts and even Grand Lodge actions, in reporting them in print! But
whether or no the Old Charges as he printed them are wholly accurate reflections
of the theory and practice of Freemasonry in 1723, they are, to us of the modern
Masonic world, revered as law, revered, even when we break them, as when we
elect, instead of appointing, a Deputy Grand Master !
Much of the instruction and admonition is of an operative character, such as
the "supplanting" of a brother, the honest work on a working day, the
requirement to pay only fair wages and make but a fair profit. As Speculative
Masonry was far younger in 1723 than operative Masonry, the brethren of London
two centuries ago were much closer in thoughts to actual cutters and setters of
stone than are we, who do no operative work whatever. Yet we keep in our system
some operative practices - notably the physical perfection requirement and the
instruction not to "supplant" a brother in his work.
As a whole, however, the Old Charges are concerned with a man's relations
with his God, his fellowman and his own conscience. They are a body of spiritual
teachings, of admonition and exhortations designed to keep Masons on friendly
terms with Masons, and to make of the fraternity a living, moving vehicle in
which man may travel happily with his fellowman.
As such, as well as because they are fundamental to all modern Masonic "faith
and practice", they can be studied and loved, learned and lived, with profit to
the reader and benefit to the Fraternity.
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