112 Magazine January 2023 Issue No. 25

112 On The Level

Masonic Magazine for St. John Fisherrow No.112

Happy New Year to all our readers

On behalf of the brethren of 112 we hope you and your families have all had a wonderful time over the festive season and wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year 2023 Brethren, any brother who cannot view the magazines on our website and would like to recieve a printed copy please contact Brother Derek Mather DM DSM, who will drop off a copy or back issues of the magazine to you Got something you want to say about your Lodge, or just Freemasonry in general ~ Why not submit an article to “On The Level”and see it printed here? (The Editor reserves the right to refuse to publish any article deemed by himself to be offensive)

Quote.......For centuries had Freemasonry existed where modern political controversies were ever heard of, and when the topics which now agitate society were not known, but were all united in brotherhood and affection. I know the institution to be founded on the great principles of charity, philanthropy and brotherly love.

The Right Worshipful Master

Hello Brethren, may I start by wishing you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year to you and your families. I hope that you have all had a great time over the festive period. I would like to say again a huge thank you to everyone who attended my installation back in December which was a great night.

The support and encouragement expressed by so many of the brethren not just in 112 but from many far and wide has been outstanding and I thank each and everyone from the bottom of my heart.

Brethren, I hope that 2023 can be another good year for Fisherrow 112 and as Master I would like to ask the brethren to try and encourage at least one brother that you know, who has not been in recent years to come back to their Mother Lodge. Like all lodges over the past number of years, brethren who have stopped attending and lost touch with their lodge for various reasons, work commitments, bringing up their young families, finding new hobbies, are just the start of a long list of reasons, but it would be great to see many return Brethren over the Christmas period we were stunned to hear that Bro. John Thorburn had suffered a heart attack and spent a few days in hospital. Although he was allowed home for Christmas he will need to return to the hospital for further treatment. We all at 112 and far wish Bro. John a very speedy recovery.

We have over the past few months experimented with having a cabaret show on a Sunday afternoon and for the first time a Christmas Party Night. Both events were an amazing success and we plan to have more soon and I again encourage members to come along support these events. We are also looking at other event avenues too and will be announcing them soon. We have of course on Friday 24th February our Lodge Ladies Night for the first in 3 three years. A great night to look ahead to with a great cabaret act booked for all to dance the night away.

~ Our Lodge Our History

Brethren I had the privilege and pleasure to confer Hon. Membership on Bro. Iain Gillies PM 1338. Brother Iain has been coming amongst for over 30 years.

Ladies Night 1948

Bro. Allan Williams PM with Bro.s Mick Laidlaw PM, Jim Sykes PM and Jim Brown PM from our sister Lodge Hawick 111

An Ear of Corn

An ear of corn is a symbol of plenty, and both expresses and teaches gratitude to him who is the giver of all good, who has appointed the seed time and the harvest, who sends rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness; causes the grass to grow for the service of man, and the earth to yield her increase, and so crowns the year with his goodness. This symbol is very natural and very ancient. The Greeks and Romans employed it In their mythology, Demeter or Ceres Demeter being the Greek name, and Ceres the Roman or Latin, and the former apparently a corruption of Geometer, i.e. Mother Earth was the goddess of corn and of harvests, and she was represented with a garland on her head composed of ears of corn, whilst in one of her hands she bore a cluster of ears of corn mingled with poppies. The Hebrew word which signifies an ear of corn is shibboleth, which also signifies a flood of water, the two meanings being connected by the idea of abundance, and the word being derived from a root, shabal, which signifies to flow abundantly. The Freemason, meditating on this symbol, may fitly call to his aid many passages of Scripture; for example these verses of the sixty-fifth Psalm:

“Thou visitest just the earth and waterest it: Thou greatly and richest it with the river of God, which is full of water; Thou prepare us to them corn, when Thou hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly; Thou settlest the furrows thereof; Thou makest it soft with showers; Thou blessest us to the springing thereof: Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness; and Thy paths drop fatness They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness; and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys are also covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing”

We may call to mind also the words of Paul, when contending against idolatry at Lystra, he said that even where the light of Revelation did not shine, God “left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts xiv. 17).

The intelligent and worthy Mason cannot contemplate this simple symbol, the Ear of Corn, without lifting up his heart in thankful acknowledgement of the goodness of God, and all the benefits bestowed by his hand

'Succoth' and 'Zeradatha'?

Our Masonic version of the casting of the Pillars of King Solomon's Temple follows the Bible story precisely. We say they were 'cast' in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeradatha and these are the exact words, perfectly translated from the original Hebrew, 2 Chron. IV, v. 17. The corresponding version in 1 Kings VII, v. 46 uses the same words, but gives the second place-name as Zarthan. 'Succoth' means 'booths' or 'tents'. This was the place where Jacob built 'booths' for his cattle on his return to Canaan, after wrestling with the angel. The River Jordan flows due north and south, and the River Jabbok flows into it from the north east 'Succoth' was a village or town about four miles east of the River Jordan, in the V between the two Rivers. 'Zeradatha', 'Zarthan', 'Zereda'. The name appears to be derived from an Arabic root meaning 'to cool' or 'cooling'. It probably marked a ford of the Jordan in the same area

The key to the choice of this territory for the work of casting the Pillars, is the clay ground in this part of the Jordan valley. The use of a clay core was one of the earliest methods of casting in bronze. If there really was some-thing in the geographical situation of Zeradatha which helped in the cooling process, the area chosen for the casting was wholly suitable for the work.

The Star O’ Rabbie Burns

"Let kings and courtiers rise and fa; This world has mony turns, But brightly beams aboon them a'

The star o' Robbie Burns "

Apart from the National Anthem, it is said that the only song to be sung at a Burns supper not written by Robert Burns is, ‘The Star O’ Rabbie Burns. Written by Brother James Thomson the Bard of Lodge St James B.U.R.A No. 424, Hawick in the Scottish Borders, the subject of this month’s cover story.

James Thomson was born in 1827 in the village of Bowden. He served an apprenticeship as a wood-turner and cabinet-maker and set up a business in the small town of Hawick. Where his reputation for writing songs and poetry soon established him in the ranks of the minor bards of the Scottish Lowlands.

In December 1866, James Thomson was initiated into Freemasonry in Lodge St James, where he would for many years hold the office of Bard, and in 1884 he was elected to the office of the Provincial Grand Bard.

Brother Thomson died on the 28th of December 1888 and the next day the Lodge called a special meeting to inform the brethren of the death of their esteemed and much admired bard. It was agreed that all the hospital and funeral expenses would be paid by the Lodge and that the brethren should attend the internment individually, where the Masonic service would be read by the R W M

10 years later, a memorial stone to mark the final resting place of Brother James Thomson was unveiled in the presence of a large turnout of Brethren and friends. was designed by a Brother of the Lodge, an architect, and stands ten feet high The inscription states; Erected by the brethren of Lodge St. James, B.U.R.A. No.424. In appreciative memory of BROTHER JAMES THOMSON.

Brother James Thomson is not forgotten in the town of Hawick, for, since that day until today, the brethren of Lodge No.424, gather together on the centenary of the bard’s birth at the memorial stone, to lay a wreath to his memory, and recently a new footbridge crossing the river Teviot, which meanders through the town was named the James Thomson Footbridge, with a statute of the great man erected alongside, next door to the ‘Burns’ club.

Although James Thomson is probably better known for writing the words to, ‘The Star O’ Rabbie Burns,’ he was a prolific songwriter, he wrote many songs which are sung each year at the Common Riding festival which takes place each June in the town of Hawick Among his most popular songs are, ‘The Border Queen,’ which has been sung at every official ceremony since 1887 and ‘Up wi’ the Banner,’ along with the ‘Widow’s Lament.’ ‘For years to come, there will be heard amidst the tuneful measures of later days, the sweetest notes of James Thomson ’

Grant Thy Light

O God of Ages look tonight

Upon Thy Craftsman; let Thy light Burn on the altars of his heart, And fit him for the Mason’s Art.

That light which pales the brightest star, And leaps the void of spaces far To crown with beauty morning sky And evening hills to glorify.

Touch with that light his, and grant, Oh God, grace to this supplicant, That in Thy temple he may be An ornament of Masonry.

Our Famous Brethren

Brother William S. Lowe P.M.

Brethren this article was written several years ago by Brother Tom Chrystal P.M. Brethren, during my recent research into the life of Lt Col Buchanan-Dunlop P M , the name of Bro. Willie Lowe P.M. kept coming up as I read through the Lodge Minute Books

Bro. Willie was Right Worshipful Master of this, our Mother Lodge, in 1919. Afterwards he became recognised as the Master of the Lodge. In these days, Brethren, the Master Elect did not choose his Installing Master as they do so today Instead Bro Willie did all the Installing Honours from the early 1920’s until well into the 1930’s

He was proud to claim that he was Initiated, Passed, Raised and Marked. I wonder what the Questions and Answers were liked in those days. He must have been an excellent scholar to learn all that he had to, all in less than six weeks. But when you consider what he went on to do as the Installing Master of the Lodge, he had to be

Bro Willie was one of Scotland’s premier bowlers before World War 2 He excelled at Club, District and International level. As you can imagine, he was also a great asset to 112 while competing on behalf of the Lodge in the Provincial Bowling Competitions. His list of Honours are listed below.

I am proud to wear Bro Willie’s PM Jewel which was presented to me personally by the husband of Bro Willie’s niece, the late Bro George Maxwell, who was one of the sons who ran George Maxwell & Sons Coachbuilders in Musselburgh.

Bro. Willie was a member of the well known Lowe family here in Musselburgh. There was David Lowe and Sons, Market Gardners who worked on the land at Stoneyhill, Monktonhall, Prestonpans and Gladsmuir. David was Provost of Musselburgh. They were famous for developing “Musselburgh Leeks” Alex Lowe ran a cycle and motor cycle business where Peterson’s cycle and pram shop was at the Town Hall before it was taken over by McDonald Cycles.

When he gave up that business, he started Lowe’s Wireless & Relay shop in the days when you needed to have an accumulator to power your radio or you rented one of Alex Lowe’s relay receivers. I understand that this system operated on a receiving station which then sent out cable radio signals to connected house in Musselburgh

He also had one of the very first cable television stations. The receiving and transmitting Station was based at Downies which is down at the mouth of the River Esk. There were cables all over Musselburgh which carried television signals to the televisions equipped to receive his television service He also started Lowe’s Garage which was bought over by the SMT of Scottish Motor Traction Limited on the site of what is now Somerfield’s Supermarket

As a matter of some further interest, Brethren, the Late Bro. George Maxwell lived in Stoneyhill House which is steeped in Scottish history. The early monks lived there as did Oliver Cromwell after he stabled his horses in St. Michael’s Church. He is reputed to have hanged a man at the house. Also, it was here that the first Loretto School boys lived when the school was first established before they moved in to their present location at Pinkie and Millhill Stoneyhill House has a secret tunnel which is reputed to exit somewhere near Fisherrow Harbour. Bro. George’s son, Bro. David Maxwell, showed me the entrance to the tunnel some time ago but neither he nor I were brave enough to venture further than the entrance door (any volunteer ’s?) “Feardie Tam Chrystal P.M.”

Bro William: Lowe’s Masonic Record Proposer Bro Charles D Ross Seconder Bro. J. M. Ross

Application read in Open Lodge

5th March 1958 Enquiry Committee 8th April 1958 Ballot 3rd September 1958 Initiated 17th December 1958 Fellow Craft 15th April 1959 Master Mason 4th December 1964 Mark Master Mason 6th May 1965

Did Yi Ken.....

The use of mortar not composed of the correct ingredients or in which these ingredients are improperly mixed in Operative Masonry is certain to result in a weak and defective building, in a building that will soon disintegrate and tumble down. In Speculative Masonry, such untempered mortar is symbolic of dishonest and fraudulent mixtures in the building of character or in the construction of the institution of Freemasonry It represents hypocrisy, the representation of evil as good, the employment of bad materials in moral, ethical and spiritual architecture.

Did Yi Ken..........Unity

The mystic tie of true fraternalism is love. But, even where brotherly love prevails, differences of opinion, conflicting ideas, unenlightenment on the part of some, prejudices and varied interests in life endanger the spirit of genuine fellowship and unity. Hence, Masons are constantly taught to avoid "confusion among the workmen," discord, strife, jealousies and vain discussions on non-essentials; and to cultivate zealously and fervently the spirit of true unity in the Lodge and in the Fraternity.

GEORGE WASHINGTON, the SAILOR KING, and QUEEN VICTORIA

King William IV, who ruled England from 1830-37, was one of George III’s seven sons, and one of Queen Victoria’s uncles As the strange, good natured ‘Sailor King’ was third in line of succession, he had been unlikely to become king, so, as per royal tradition, he joined the navy, at age 13. He was very much one of the tars, and even got arrested in a brawl in Gibraltar During the American Revolutionary War, he served with distinction, commanding a 600-ton frigate (40 guns). In America, he became best of friends with then Captain Horatio Nelson, a member of Amphibious Lodge in Plymouth, England. When the American ‘rebels’ hatched a plot to kidnap Prince William, Worshipful Brother George Washington’s instructions cautioned against insult or injury to the Prince. The plot failed when the British put an armed guard on William, and thereafter forbade him to walk around New York City unescorted. Prince William joined the Craft shortly thereafter

Applying himself to his naval career, Prince William became Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy. One of his escapades was straight out of Gilbert and Sullivan. In 1828, he set out to sea for ten days, with a squadron of ships, without telling anyone Upon the Admiral Prince’s return to port, the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, politely fired him. (The Duke had been a member of Trim Lodge, in Ireland, for nearly 40 years.) While on dry land, the Sailor Prince was an inveterate womanizer He enjoyed a long affair (17911811) with an Irish actress, Dorothea Jordan, who produced ten illegitimate children. In his efforts to produce a legitimate heir, William made numerous overtures of matrimony to wealthy heiresses and European princesses, but to no avail Fifteen years before the birth of the Sailor

King, there arose a sense, in England, that the Grand Lodge, founded in 1717, had de-Christianized Freemasonry, and that the two Saints John were being devalued. Their feast days were no longer celebrated as the auspicious occasions for the installation of Worshipful Masters. Accordingly, in 1751, certain disenchanted Freemasons, led by the pretentious and antagonistic Irish Mason, Laurence Dermott, (1720-1791), established a new, more observant Grand Lodge, ‘according to the Old Institutions,’ and called themselves the ‘Antients.’ They were influential in North America, in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, and Canada. Eventually, though, two of the Sailor Kings’s Brothers re-united Freemasonry. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, became Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England (Antients) in 1813. He was Queen Victoria’s father. Prince Frederick, Duke of Sussex, became Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England (Moderns), also in 1813. Together, they hammered out a compromise constitution Prince Frederick remained Grand Master of the newly United Grand Lodge of England for 30 years. His brother, King William IV, the Sailor King, served as Grand Patron of the United Grand Lodge of England from 1831 until his death in 1837

With the death of his niece, Caroline, (1817), and his brothers, Edward (1820) and Frederick, (1827), the Sailor Prince became heir to the British throne, but had no heir, himself. He was finally crowned King William IV in 1830, at age 65, the oldest British monarch to ascend to the throne, until Prince Charles. (age 73). When the Sailor King died in 1837, of cirrhosis of the liver, he had no legitimate heir. Fortunately, his younger brother, Edward, had had a daughter named Victoria, who ruled as Queen for 67 years, into the twentieth century (1837-1901) Only Queen Elizabeth II has surpassed that feat, ruling for 70 years. (1952-2022).

Widow’s Son

In Ancient Craft Masonry, the title applied to Hiram, the architect of the Temple, because he is said, in the first Book of Kings (vu, 14) to have been "a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali." The Adonhiramite Freemasons have a tradition which Chapron gives in the following words: "The Freemasons call themselves the widow's sons, because, after the death of our respectable Master, the Freemasons took care of his mother, whose children they called themselves, because Adonhiram had always considered them as his Brethren. But the French Freemasons subsequently changed the myth and called themselves Sons of the Widow, and for this reason.

Geometric Rubbish

(Adapted from the Old Tyler Talks)

"There are a lot of things in Masonry," began the New Brother to the Past Master.

"Bravo!" cried the Past Master, sarcastically. "Who told you all that?"

"And some of them," continued the New Brother, "are more or less rubbish. I mean I yield to no one in my love for the Craft, but I see its faults. And when I am expected to learn the science of geometry as a part of Masonry I know it’s a joke There is no more sense to including geometry in the second degree than there would be including palaeontology or..."

Did Yi Ken....................

The Masonic tracing board took several decades to develop into its pictorial form. Initially a chalk drawing was made on the table or floor in the centre of the hired tavern room in which a Masonic Lodge met, the work being executed either by the Tyler or Worshipful Master. Evidence suggests that a simple boundary in the shape of a square, rectangle (or "double square"), or a cross was drawn first, with various Masonic symbols often of a geometric type were drawn later, the former usually being drawn by the Tyler and the latter possibly by the Master. Later various symbolic objects, were added. At the end of the work a new member was often required to erase the drawing with a mop, as a demonstration of his obligation of secrecy

"I love to hear a man say he can see the faults of Masonry," interrupted the Past Master, "because then I am in the presence of a master mind. Generations of philosophers have made Masonry what it is. When a new brother can plainly see its faults he is greater than all of these."

"Of course I did not mean it that way. I just meant that I, er, you know..." "Do I? Well, then I suppose I'd better not mince words about it. To say there is no sense to geometry in the second degree is to advertise the fact that you know nothing and care less for the symbolism of the order. Take from Masonry its symbolism and all you have left is a central thought with no means of expression. Imagine a great musician, deaf, blind, and paralyzed, his heart ringing with wonderful melodies and harmonies, yet unable to give them expression, and you have a mental picture of Masonry without symbolism Symbolism is Masonry's means of expressing thought, and geometry, in the second degree, is not an arithmetical study, but a symbol.”

"Geometry was an outgrowth of the first science. The first glimpse brute man had there was aught in nature but haphazard chance or the capricious doing of a superior overlord

was when he learned the stupendous fact that two and two always make four.

"From that humble beginning and recognition of the master law of the universe-which is, that law is universal, unchanging, and invariablegrew the study of things; their surfaces, their areas, their angles, their motions, their positions. Modern methods have gone farther than Euclid, but his work was perfectly done and Euclid's geometry stands today as a perfect thing, as far as he took it ”

"Geometry is the science of order. Reaching back to the first recognition that there was order in the world, it may stand for anyone who has eyes to see, as it does stand in Masonry, for man's recognition of God in the universe It is a symbol of universality By geometry we know that natural law on earth is nature's law for the stars. There have been few atheists in the world, but I venture to say that none of them have been geometricians or astronomers. They know too much to deny the existence of the Great Geometrician when seeing His work.”

"Geometry is everywhere. It is in the snowflake's measured lines of crystallization. There is geometry of the honeycomb and the geometry of the cone of a fir tree. Mountains stand or fall as they obey or disobey the laws of geometry and the spider in her web and the planets in their orbits a like work according to the universal laws of geometry.”

"I think God's thoughts after Him,' said the great astronomer Kepler, looking through his telescope and thinking of the geometry of the skies.”

"If we know two angles and one dimension, we can find the other dimension. Man has angles and dimensions; and if we know enough of them we can find the rest. One of a man's angles is his love of Masonry Given a real love of Masonry as one angle, a willingness to live her precepts as the other

and we can tell what sort of a man he is now, used to be, and will be in the future.”

It is a real geometry the second degree commends to you, my brother, because it is a symbol of law and order, of Deity, of universality. But it is spiritual geometry which you should study rather than the propositions of Euclid, bearing in mind that they are symbols of that which Masonry most venerates, most wisely teaches, and most greatly loves ”

"Our ancient brother Pythagoras discovered the wonderful demonstration of the Great Architect which is the forty-seventh problem of Euclid. And so when I hear a young squirt of a Mason, with his eyes barely opened to the long path which is Masonry winding through the stars to God, say that the geometry in the second degree is rubbish, I wish I could take him out in the back and treat him as I would a small boy who found humour in church and fun in sacred things, and..."

"Oh! Whoa! Stop!" cried the New Brother "I was wrong. I didn't understand. Say, where can I get a geometry book? I want to know more about that forty-seventh problem." "In the Lodge Library," growled the Past Master. "And, say, son, when you get it in your head, come back here and explain it all over again to me, will you?"

Volume of the Sacred Law

The proper Masonic name for the book on the altar even if it is the King James Version of the Bible Just as Freemasonry uses the name Great Architect so as to be inclusive to the faiths of all its members, so to should it use the name Volume of the Sacred Law to be inclusive of all books of faith of its members. The candidate is obligated on the book of HIS faith.

At the Regular Meeting held on 17th April 1918

The Third Degree was conferred by Lodge Thorntree No. 1038 - Bor. John Fewell was the Right Worshipful Master This also appears to be the record of a visiting Lodge conferring a Degree other than the Mark

Sunday 29th September 1918

A Masonic Service in aid of Edenhall Home for Limbless Soldiers and Sailors was held in Inveresk Parish Church. The Service was conducted by the Rev. Bro. D.C. Stewart of Currie, Provincial Grand Chaplain; Bro Robert Burnett sang the solos; Mr Cherry presided at the Organ and the Musselburgh and Fisherrow Trades Band was also present The collection amounted to sixty pounds.

The Initiation Fee was increased to £5.5.0d.

At the Regular Meeting held on 18th December 1918

Bro William S Lowe was installed as Right Worshipful Master for the year 1919 Over one hundred candidates were initiated into the Lodge during his year as Master.

At a Special Meeting held on 14th May 1919

The Chaplain Bro. Gordon presented a copy of the Grand Lodge Laws dated 1836, and the Treasurer Bro. Blain presented three pictures, namely:- Burns as Depute Master; Burns’ Installation as Poet Laureate in Canongate Kilwinning No 2, and the Lady Mason Both were thanked for their gifts

Notice of motion to be discussed at Grand Lodge on 6th November 1919 is engrossed in the Minute Book. This provides that no more than seven candidates shall be initiated, passed, or raised on any one day. Confirmation of this Motion and of the Minimum Initiation Fee being increased to £5.5.0d. was received from Grand Lodge at the Regular Meeting held on 19th November 1919.

At the Regular Meeting held on 17th December 1919

Bro. John A. Hope was installed as the Right Worshipful Master for the year 1920. At the Lodge Committee Meeting it was agreed to recommend to the Lodge that a SubCommittee be appointed to make enquiries regarding a new site for Lodge premises as it was impossible to make any extensions to the present Hall, and at a Special Meeting held on 5th May 1920 it was agreed to accept the Committee’s recommendation and purchase a piece of ground extending to about 106 feet by 90 feet in Market Street, the property of Mr Archibald Kay, at a price of £500 as a site for a new Hall. On 27th November 1920 it was decided not to make an offer for St. Peter ’ s School.

The Latin quadratum was a square; originally, quadrate and quarry meant the same. The word became applied’ to the pit from which rock is hewn because the principal task of workmen therein was to cut, or square, the stones; hence, literally a quarry is a place where stone-squaring is done. In Masonry “quarry” sometimes refers to the rock pits from which Solomon’s workmen hewed out the stones for his Temple; at other times it refers to the various arenas of Masonic activities, as when it is said of an active Lodge member that “he is a faithful labourer in the quarry.”

The Holy Bible

The Holy Bible is given to us as a rule and guide to our faith and practice through life.

Upon the Altar of every Masonic Lodge, supporting the Square and Compasses, lies the Holy Bible. The old, familiar Book, so beloved by so many generations, is our Volume of Sacred Law and the Great Light in Masonry. The Bible opens when the Lodge opens; it closes when the Lodge closes No Lodge can transact its own business, much less initiate candidates into its mysteries, unless the Book of Holy Law lies open upon its Altar. Thus the Book of the Will of God Rules the Lodge in its labors, as the Sun Rules the Day, making its work a worship

The history of the Bible in the life and symbolism of Masonry is a story too long to recite here. Nor can any one tell it as we should like to know it. Just when, where, and by whom the teaching and imagery of the Bible were wrought into Freemasonry, no one can tell. Anyone can have his theory, but no one can be dogmatic. As the Craft labored in the service of the Church during the Cathedral-Building period, it is not difficult to

account for the Biblical coloring of its thought, even in days when the Bible was not widely distributed, and before the discovery of printing. Anyway, we can take such facts as we are able to find, leaving further research to learn further truth.

The Bible is mentioned in some of the old manuscripts of the Craft long before the revival of Masonry in 1717, as the book upon which the covenant, or oath, of a Mason was taken; but it is not referred to as a Great Light For example, in the Harleian Manuscript, dated about 1600, the obligation of an initiate closes with the words: "So Help Me God, and the Holy Contents of this Book." In the old ritual, of which a copy from the Royal Library in Berlin is given by Krause, there is no mention of the Bible as one of the Lights It was in England, due largely to the influence of Preston and his fellow workmen, that the Bible came to its place of honor in the Lodge. At any rate, in the rituals of about 1760 it is described as one of three Great Lights.

No Mason needs to be told what a great place the Bible has in the Masonry of our day. It is central, sovereign, supreme, a master light of all our seeing. From the Altar it pours forth upon the East, the West, and the South its white light of spiritual vision, moral law, and immortal hope Almost every name found in our ceremonies is a Biblical name, and students have traced about seventy-five references to the Bible in the Ritual of the Craft. But more important than direct references is the fact that the spirit of the Bible, its faith, its attitude toward life, pervades Masonry, like a rhythm or a fragrance. As soon as an initiate enters the Lodge, he hears the words of the Bible recited as an accompaniment to his advance toward the light. Upon the Bible every Masons takes solemn vows of loyalty, of chastity, and charity, pledging himself to the practice of the Brotherly Life. Then he moves eloquent and its music sings its way into his heart.

Forward from one degree to another, the imagery of the Bible becomes familiar and

Nor is it strange that it should be so. As faith in God is the corner- stone of the Craft, so, naturally, the book which tells us the purest truth about God is its Altar-Light. The Temple of King Solomon, about which the history, legends, and symbolism of the Craft are woven, was the tallest temple of the ancient world, not in the grandeur of its architecture but in the greatest of the truths for which it stood In the midst of ignorant idolatries and debasing superstitions the Temple on Mount Moriah stood for Unity, Righteousness, and Spirituality of God. Upon no other foundation can men build with any sense of security and permanence when the winds blow and the floods descend But the Bible is not simply a foundation rock; it is also a quarry in which we find the truths that make us men. As in the old ages of geology rays of sunlight were stored up in vast beds of coal, for the uses of man, so in this old book the light of moral truth is stored to light the mind and warm the heart of man

Alas, there has been more dispute about the Bible than about any other book, making for schism, dividing men in sects. But Masonry knows a certain secret, almost too simple to be found out, whereby it avoids both intolerance and sectarianism It is essentially religious, but it is not dogmatic. The fact that the Bible lies open upon the Altar means that man must have some Divine Revelation - must seek for a light higher than human to guide and govern him. But it lays down no hard and fast dogma on the subject of revelation It attempts no detailed interpretation of the Bible. The great Book lies open upon its Altar, and is open for all to read, open for each to interpret for himself. The tie by which our Craft is united is strong, but it allows the utmost liberty of faith and thought It unites men, not upon a creed bristling with debatedes issues, but upon the broad, simple truth which

underlies all creeds and over-arches all sectsfaith in God, the wise Master Builder, for whom and with whom man must work.

Herein our gentle Craft is truly wise, and its wisdom was never more needed than today, when the Churches are divided and torn by angry debate. However religious teachers may differ in their doctrines, in the Lodge they meet with mutual respect and good will. At the Altar of Masonry they learn not only toleration, but appreciation In its air of kindly fellowship, man to man, they discover that the things they have in common are greater than the things that divide. It is the glory of Masonry to teach Unity in essentials, Liberty in details, Charity in all things; and by this sign its spirit must at last prevail It is the beautiful secret of Masonry that all just men, all devout men, all righteous men are everywhere of one religion, and it seeks to remove the hoodwinks of prejudice and intolerance so that they may recognize each other and work together in the doing of good.

Like everything else in Masonry, the Bible, so rich in symbolism, is itself a symbol - that is, a part taken for the whole. It is a symbol of the Book of Truth, the Scroll of Faith, the Record of the Will of God as man has learned it in the midst of the years - the perpetual revelation of Himself which God has made, and is making, to mankind in every age and land. Thus, by the very honor which Masonry pays to the Bible, it teaches us to revere every Book of Faith in which men find help for today and hope for the morrow. For that reason, in a Lodge consisting entirely of Jews, the Old Testament alone may be placed upon the Altar, and in a Lodge in the land of Mohammed the Koran may be used. Whether it be the Gospels of the Christian, the Book of the Law of the Hebrew, the Koran of the Mussulman, or the Vedas of the Hindu; it everywhere Masonically conveys the same idea - symbolizing the Will of God revealed to man, taking such faith and vision as he has found into a great fellowship of the

seekers and finders of the truth.

Thus Masonry invites to its Altar men of all faiths, knowing that, if they use different names for the "Nameless One of an Hundred Names," they are yet praying to the one God and Father of all; knowing also, that while they read different volumes, they are in fact reading the same vast Book of Faith of Man as revealed in the struggle and tragedy of the race in its quest of God. So that, great and noble as the Bible is, Masonry sees it as a symbol of that eternal, ever-unfolding Book of the Will of God which Lowell described in memorable lines:

Slowly the Bible of the race is writ, and not on paper leaves, nor leaves of stone; Each age, each kindred, adds a verse to it, Text of despair or hope, of joy or moan, while swings the sea, while mists the mountain shroud, While thunder's surges burst on cliffs of cloud, still at the Prophets' feet the nations sit.

None the less, while we honor every Book of Faith in which have been recorded the way and Will of God, with us the Bible is supreme, at once the mother-book of our literature, and the master-book of the Lodge. Its truth is inwrought in the fiber of our being, with whatsoever else of the good and the true which the past has given us Its spirit stirs our hearts, like a sweet habit of the blood; its light follows all our way, showing us the meaning and worth of life. Its very words have in them memories, echoes, and overtones of voices long since hushed, and its scenery is interwoven with the holiest associations of our lives. Our father and mothers read it, finding in it their final reasons for living faithfully and nobly, and it is thus a part of the ritual of the Lodge and the Ritual of Life.

Every Mason ought not only to honor the Bible as a great Light of the Craft; he ought to read it, live it, love it, lay its truth to heart and learn what it means to be a man. There is something in the old Book which, if it gets

into a man, makes him both gentle and strong, faithful and free, obedient and tolerant, adding to his knowledge virtue, patience, temperance, self-control, brotherly love, and pity. The Bible is as high as the sky and as deep as the grave; its two great characters are God and the soul, and the story of their romance. It is the most human of books, telling us the half-forgotten secrets of our own hearts, our sins, our sorrows, our doubts, our hopes. It is the most Divine of Books, telling us that God has made us for himself, and that our hearts will be restless and lonely until we learn to rest in Him whose will is our peace.

"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the Prophets " "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted by the world." "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Short Bulletin Talk 1924