October-November,1951
Contents
THE MEANING AND MISSION OF MASONRY THE HARDENING PROCESS
ASTRONOMY AND MASONRY Historical Notes On The Masonic Ritual
DORMIT IN PACE SOWING AND REAPING
THE PHILALETHES SOCIETY NEWS CARL H. CLAUDY, F.P.S.
THE MEANING AND MISSION OF MASONRY
By Charles G. Reigner F.P.S., Baltimore, Maryland
THE ESSENTIAL fact about Masonry is that it is an elaborate allegory of life. We are not to think about any aspect of the ritual as being necessarily historical in character; rather, we are to view what we hear and see in the tyled Lodge as lessons which are intended to strengthen our faith in God, to give us a right conception of human brotherhood, and to confirm our belief in the immortality of the soul.
There is nothing secret about these basic conceptions. Freemasonry, we should continually remind ourselves, is a private society ,not a secret society. A secret society, properly so called, is one that seeks to conceal its existence, its purposes, and its history. "Outside of a few signs and grips and some pass words," as one Masonic writer says, "there is very little about Freemasonry that is secret. Its places of meetings are known. There is no secret about its acts and purposes. They are proclaimed from the house-top and emblazoned along the street. The deeds of charity of Freemasonry are recognized by all men and are a matter of comment in every community. The Masonic homes which are to be found in every state of the Union testify to the fact that Masons contribute money which is used to care for the aged, the widow, and the orphan."
Masonry means for each Mason what he makes it mean for himself. The mere fact that a man has "gone through the degrees" does not make him a Mason. The important question always is, Has Masonry gone through the Mason? Have the influences which have been brought to bear on him penetrated not only his mind, but his heart as well ? Has his faith in God been strengthened and deepened ? Has his sense of human brotherhood been broadened ? Has he a deeper conviction that man is not all flesh, that beyond the realm of sense and sight there lies a higher realm of eternal reality?
Fundamentally and basically, Freemasonry is serious business. It is concerned with the great ends of life. It seeks continually to throw into high relief those great principles of noble thinking and right acting which have characterized thoughtful men in all ages.
The idea of God pervades all Masonry. It seeks continually to make us aware that we are not put into this world to think only of ourselves or to be concerned only with our own selfish interests. It seeks to create that awareness through the moral lessons which are inherent in its symbols, its emblems, and its allegories.
To the extent that we leave God out of our calculations, to that extent also do we live the sensual lives of the beasts of the field. How inconsistent therefore, is the life of a Mason who, at one hour, hears God extolled in the Lodge and in the next hour uses that Sacred Name in vain! To far too great an extent we moderns have lost the sense of over-ruling Providence in our lives. We are impressed with the achievements of the mind of man - all those discoveries and inventions which characterize the age in which we live. The externals too often overshadow our thinking, so that we tend to lose sight of those internal truths which alone lend color and vitality and significance to our daily ways.
All men are brothers, so Masonry teaches, - inhabitants of the same planet, children of the same Almighty Parent. Masonry is Brotherhood. In its fraternal circle it drives home the truth that it is what a man is - not what he says or has or does - that really counts. As Masons we meet on the level. Distinctions of position and status disappear. Brotherhood is manifested not in words, but in deeds. Bigotry and intolerance are the exact opposites of brotherhood. Masonry teaches faith in "that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves." It is always trying to make us "good men and true, by whatever denominations or persuasions" we may be distinguished. Thus it is that Masonry becomes the center of union and the means of conciliating true friendship among persons who must have remained at a perpetual distance."
Brotherhood implies friendship and fellowship. It teaches us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. It seeks to unite Masons - never to keep them apart; to bring them together, never to keep them separate. In that respect Masonry has a great lesson to teach to the world. It is the lack of a sense of human brotherhood that gives rise to all kinds of inequities in life, as well as to hatreds and tyrannies which have left their dark blots on the book of human history.
Again - Masonry teaches belief in a future beyond the bounds of time. The basic purpose of the Master Mason degree is to teach us allegorically that death is not the end; that beyond physical death lies glorious immortality for the man who lives this life as it should be lived - in the fear of God. Speaking of those Masons who formed the Grand Lodge of England in 1717, Brother Joseph Fort Newton writes: "Though differences of creed paid no part in Masonry, nevertheless it held religion in high esteem and was then, as now, the steadfast upholder of the only two articles of faith that were never invented by man - the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. Accordingly every Lodge was opened and closed with prayer to the Almighty Architect of the Universe; and when a Lodge of mourning met in memory of a brother fallen asleep, the formula was 'He has passed over into the eternal East' - to that region whence cometh light and hope . . . Upon that basis Masonry rests today, holding that a unity of spirit is better than a uniformity of opinion, and that beyond the great and simple 'religion in which all men agree' no dogma is worth a breach of charity."
So much for the underlying Meaning of Masonry. It is from that Meaning that the Mission of Masonry flows. Masonry never engages in theological or political controversies; it does not ally itself with reform movements. It seeks, in the first instance, so to influence the minds and hearts of Masons that they will ever be found on the side of Right and Truth and Justice.
In its total influence Masonry seeks to develop patriotism and love of country. It cannot breath the same atmosphere with autocracy. It believes in the dignity of human personality. It holds that every human being has both duties and rights, obligations and privileges.
One aspect of the Mission of Masonry, therefore, is to raise the voice in protest against any ideology that seeks to dethrone God; that makes the physical and the material superior to the spiritual and the divine. The cruel system that we call Communism is but the modern expression of the age-old evil which, through the centuries, has sought to enslave the minds and the lives of men. Dictators have had their little day and have gone the way of all flesh. So will it be, too, with the tyrants who are responsible for the cruelty that mars our world. As individual Masons we need continually to emphasize the value of all human beings and throw our influence against demagogues of every kind. The State exists for the people, never the people for the State.
Next, it is a part of the Mission of Masonry to hold fast that great principle of American life developed by our fathers - the separation of Church and State. Whenever priesthood gains the upper hand and infiltrates the political life of a nation there, too freedom of thought and conscience comes to an end. The organized Church is interested in all aspects of human life. It is concerned primarily with the never dying soul of man, but its interest extends to all human relations. Nevertheless, by any true conception of the Church, we are taught to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's. Freemasonry and democracy alike insist that the State shall neither aid nor discourage any form of organized religion. Both believe in that "wall of separation" between Church and State which is a part of the fabric of our society. We must have complete freedom of thought, of speech, and of conscience if human beings are to exercise their God-given and inalienable rights. Just as Masonry is Brotherhood, so also it is Freedom. It leaves to every Mason to determine what attitude he shall take toward organized religion, insisting only that he avow a firm faith in God.
Masonry seeks to accomplish its mission in the world through the united efforts of Masons. It promotes friendliness, mutual respect, and confidence in the motives and acts of our Brethren. It seeks to weld all Masons into a sacred society of friends and brothers. To that end it encourages innocent merriment and social intercourse which never descend to the level of the vulgar. We ought, therefore, to remember at all times that no matter to what allied Masonic organization a Mason may belong, he is still a Mason. He wears the Apron as the badge of a Mason. He has taken obligations which bind him and his fellows to the highest and noblest aims and ideals of life.
"Masonry," writes Brother Newton in an eloquent paragraph, "is friendship, first, with the Great Companion, who is always nearer to us than we are to ourselves. To be in harmony with his purposes, to be open to His suggestions, to be conscious of fellowship with Him - this is Masonry on its Godward side. Then. turning manward, friendship sums it all up. To be friends with all men, however they may differ from us; to fill every human relation with the spirit of friendship; is there anything more or better than this that the wisest and best men can hope to do?"
In these troubled times not one of us knows what lies before. Shall we not, then, join hand to hand as we seek More Light on the Meaning and Mission of Masonry? Shall we not resolve to be a little kinder, a little more generous, a little more helpful to others, and a little less selfish, knowing that ere long - be it soon or late - we, too, shall be gathered into the land where our fathers have none before us?
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By the late Leo Fischer, F.P.S.
MASONRY IS FOUNDED on the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. One of the commandments given by God to Man is "Thou shalt not kill," and Cain, who slew his brother Abel, is held up to the detestation of mankind.
It is not easy to reconcile warfare with these teachings and principles impressed so deeply upon our minds that nothing can ever efface them. And yet, millions of good men and Masons have of their own free will and accord undergone arduous training in the grim business of war and have gone forth and done their duty on the field of battle, inflicting death and wounds upon beings created like themselves in the image of God.
It has been asserted by one school of thought that war is the natural state of man and that armed struggles will endure as long as humanity on the face of the earth. Others oppose war as an unnatural and horrible thing, and dream of an era of peace for the entire world.
The desire for peace and good-will on earth exists in every good man. Bloodshed and violence are abhorrent to him. But, when the country and his family, his home and his ideals are menaced by enemies, he must realize that it is necessary for him to jettison many of his ideas and desires and steel his heart to do the very things that he detests and condemns.
The young soldier seldom realizes the grimness of war while he is being taught to march and shoot. Target practice rather appeals to him as a sport. It is when he is taught the use of the bayonet, with its gruesome details, that he begins to see the horror of it all. It is then that many a recruit feels his courage fail and commences to dread the ordeal which until then had inspired him with little apprehension and terror. The hardening process which he must undergo in order to be fit to face the enemy in battle has begun. It is neither pleasant nor easy; but it is absolutely necessary.
To hate and detest the enemy is another thing which the soldier must learn in order to attain the highest efficiency in battle. Once he has looked upon the distorted faces of comrades killed in action, of men with whom he used to share his rations and amusements and exchange reminiscences of the home folks or the happy days spent at school, there is a gleam of something fiercer than determination in his eye when he charges the enemy, and his finger is quicker on the trigger than it was before.
The effects of the hardening process of which we have spoken are enduring. It changes softness into firmness in the average youngster. It leaves him serious and less ready to smile. It brutalizes the inferior man. But the man of character and education seldom loses by the test to which he had been put in war. It may make him harder and may destroy some of his dreams and illusions. But it does not curdle the milk of human kindness in him, and it raises his courage and patriotism to a higher level.
Millions of our young men are now undergoing that hardening process. It is they who, after the war, will do the work of our nation and guide its destinies. Will the ordeal through which they have passed be of benefit to them in the performance of their duties as men, as citizens, as husbands, and fathers? We firmly believe that it will. A new nation unspoilt by sloth and easy living will emerge from this war to rebuild what has been lost and destroyed, and in that work of reconstruction Masonry will no doubt play an important part. It, too, will come out of the war firmer and stronger than it was when it went in.
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Editor's Note: In these troublesome times the serious-minded and thinking Mason is confronted with a conflict between the principles and ideals of peace and brotherhood and the preparation and training for war and the ultimate destruction of those individuals and ideologies aligning themselves against freedom and the laws of God.
Recently your editors discovered this article written by our late Brother Leo Fischer, F.P.S., and printed early in World War II in the Masonic Craftsman and Eastern Star Review, November 1942. Although almost ten years have passed, our sons and brothers are again exposed to the grim realities of the battlefield and the emotions associated with the separation from and loss of loved ones. Brother Fischer's article therefore seemed timely, and we have reprinted it to show how Masonry may again serve the cause of Universal Brotherhood.
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By Wor. Brother George B. Clark, Denver, Colorado
ASTRONOMY is that art by which we are taught to read the wonderful works of the Almighty Creator in those sacred pages, the celestial hemisphere.
Probably the oldest science known to man or the first to be developed was Astrology, but this term originally meant much the same as Astronomy. It was the knowledge of the stars and their movements. Here the term "stars" includes planets and comets.
Astronomy looms large in our ritual, perhaps more than is usually considered; the stairway lecture; the stations of the principal officers of the lodge; many references to sun, moon, comets, time; form of the lodge, etc. The progress of the candidate through the degrees is a representation of the course of the sun through the houses of the Zodiac. In fact, the Zodiac plays a great part in our work if we will but admit it.
The Zodiac with its twelve houses and twelve signs was known to the ancients and was indeed their invention to measure time and to place the heavenly bodies. The lonely shepherd on the hills had little to do but study the face of the heavens and he noticed, over a long period of time, the peculiar positions taken by the stars and the formations made by them outlined in his mind the forms of animals. He watched these animals chase one another across his sky, he evolved the Zodiac system. He divided the sky into twelve sections of approximately thirty degrees each and gave a sign and the name of an animal to each. They were divided into four principal groups of three each. These four dominant signs have many representations in our work. This grouping of 4 times 3 is carried out in the march of the children of Israel through the Wilderness and is represented on the breast plate of the High Priest.
A peculiar fact of astronomy known as the Precession of the Equinoxes caused by the backward rotation of the sun through the houses of the Zodiac produces a measure of time known as the Sidereal year. This precession is very regular and amounts to approximately 50 1/4 seconds of time per year. This calculated to the complete circle of 360 degrees shows that it will take substantially 25,791 years for the sun to make the entire circle and return to any one point As the Zodiac is divided into 12 parts called houses or signs, it can readily be seen that there is required approximately 2,140 years for the passage through each house. Thus it is that every 2,000 years the sun enters another house of the Zodiac.
One of the great effects of a consideration of this science was the old belief that the Zodiac sign bathed the earth with its peculiar vibrations to such an extent that all thought and life on earth was completely under its dominance. It would follow then that when the sun passed into a different house a new vibration would dispel the old one, and new thought would arise, and civilization take a new trend. And the facts of history prove this to have been the case.
We are told in the "Great Light" that approximately 4,000 years ago, Abram left Ur of the Chaldees and journeyed west to become the founder of a new race. Written history since that time has been largely the history of that race, and because of this fact, that event, though seemingly unimportant as of that time, becomes to us one of great magnitude. Our history of the period prior to Abram's time is very fragmentary but such as it is, it leads us to the conclusion that vice and crime, war and pestilence, had become the dominant factors of society. Abram set his back to these conditions and, led by a faith in an almost unknown God, set his feet toward the west to an unknown land where he was promised a home and a posterity as numerous as the sands of the sea. The chronologist gives us this date approximately as 1907 B.C. I would impress upon you that this was an important undertaking.
It so happens astronomically that this same period of time in history marks the passage of the sun from the house of Taurus to the house of Aries. From the very name of Taurus, you will recognize the name of the bull and Aries as the word meaning lamb or ram.
Abram did his best to introduce the use of the lamb or ram instead of the bull which had formerly been the animal of sacrifice. Abram did his part in establishing the new race even in the face of almost overwhelming obstacles. But the race did get a footing even though it had to go under the protective influence of a powerful monarch to do so. In the fullness of time, some 430 years later, when their number was sufficient for them to take their allotted place in history, the leader appeared. Their great leader Moses, trained in the Court of Pharaoh to a knowledge of all worldly affairs, and also trained in the solitude of the desert of Midian to a knowledge of things spiritual, came forth to lead the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt and from the house of bondage. His was the great ministry of the forty years of wandering up and down the peninsula of Sinai. He received the tables of the law from the Most High. But, alas, his people forgot. Forgot the new training of but 400 years and reverted to the old law of twenty centuries previous. They erected the Golden Calf.
Moses then definitely instituted the sacrifice of the ram as the symbol of the new cycle of Aries. He then provided his people with a new law and a philosophy as a rule and guide for future conduct. The Pentateuch still stands as the theological account of the origin of all things. With these first five books of the Bible as the foundation, what is known as the Old Testament became the Law to the new race as they succeeded in establishing themselves in Palestine. This race rose, flourished and then declined when another power arose to supersede it.
The military State of Rome conquered the then known world and again was heard the wail of the vanquished. This important period in history was as you know, just prior to the opening of the Christian Era. Singularly also, we must note the fact at just about this time the sun passed from the house of Aries to the house of Pisces, or the fish. This was about 2000 years ago and about 2000 years after Abram opened the cycle of the Ram.
We are getting on more familiar around now as we recognize the fact that our great teacher, Jesus, the Christ, came among men at this time, to teach a new doctrine, to cleanse the Temple of the Pharisee and the money-changer, to announce the end of the old dispensation, and to introduce a new and glorious dispensation by virtue of his own thought and personality. His ministry on earth was short but well done and almost the entire world has come under the influence of his life and teaching. Was his vibratory influence exercised in an astrological way? Certainly. I need only point out that many of his miracles had to do with fishes, many of his followers were fishermen and when asked for a particular sign, he said:
"An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and there shall be no sign given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet." Matt. 12:39. And then apparently to show his own connection therewith, he added: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and nights in the heart of the earth."
As the Cycle of Aries, through its Old Testament, foretold the end of that dispensation and the coming of the Leader to open the new, so we may expect the Piscean Cycle to give some clew to its end and the coming of the Leader to open the next. We are not disappointed and the New Testament does so give us the clew.
Mark tells us in his Gospel that as the Master and his retinue approached the last Passover one of them said to the Great Teacher: "Where wilt Thou that we go and prepare that Thou mayest eat the Passover ?"
And He sent forth two of his disciples, and said unto them, "Go ye into the City, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water; follow him."
The students tell us that herein lies a direct hint for us to look for a "man bearing a pitcher of water" at the time of the Passover, which for us is the Passover into the next cycle.
The Astronomer tells us that the Cycle succeeding that of Pisces is Aquarius - the sign of the Man bearing a pitcher of water. And we are now brought squarely up against the startling fact that the Sun entered the house of Aquarius in approximately the year 1912.
Are we to stand on the statements of the disciples Mark and Luke alone or can we point to any confirmatory hints ? Again we are fortunate. You may remember the peculiar vision or prophecy made in 1910 by the old Russian Count Tolstoi in which he foretold the Great World War. He placed the beginning as 1912, whereas it actually began in 1914. He further stated that he saw in 1925 or shortly after that a change in religious sentiment, the fall of the present church and the beginning of the new ethical era, under the leadership of a Mongolian Slav then walking the earth unmindful of his destiny.
I have tried to show by the following remarks that:
1. The Sun enters a new house of the Zodiac approximately every 2,000 years.
2. That each house or sign has had a peculiar influence upon the thought, customs and civilization during its period.
3. That great catastrophies of society have taken place each time of passage from one cycle to the next.
4. That each new cycle brought a new Great Leader or Teacher whose thought dominated the world for the ensuing period.
5. And that we are but just now passing from one cycle to another.
In the light of these important and significant facts may we not expect:
1. That war and its accompanying evils would come to shake the nations. It came and we have not yet emerged from it and almost all of the principal governments of the world were overthrown or are in the process.
2. That society may expect an upheaval in religious thought to the extent even that the present church organization may be superseded by some other. Think of what Russia is doing now.
3. That a new Leader may appear to set the vibration which is to bathe the world for the next 2,000 years.
What is happening all around us at the present time? The one church founded by Christ has been divided against itself into nearly 2,000 struggling factions, each striving for an audience. And when in our history has an audience been more easily attained? Any leader on any semi-religious theme can attract a following. When has there been such outspoken free thinking among the intelligent thinkers of the country, yes even in the ministry itself? The new thought is getting a hearing while the old established principles are having a harder and harder time maintaining their holds on the minds of the people.
But after all, is it not but to be expected that this turmoil of thought would come about! The new cycle is no doubt already casting some vibration upon us and the sensitive or susceptible mind is even now receiving some of its rays. In the fullness of time, a leader will appear and no man knows how soon. Then we will, have a new doctrine, a new thought, a new society.
The cycle of Aries was the cycle of law and commandment, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and God was the God of Law - the Old Testament.
The cycle of Pisces was the cycle of Love, "A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another," and God was the Father and all men were brothers, - the New Testament.
The cycle of Aquarius - what ? As each cycle has improved upon the preceding one, what can we expect to supersede the Law of Love?
Can it be Immortality in fact?
Whatever it may be, we may rest assured that the coming 2,000 years are to be better than the last 2,000, and that all changes are under the directing hand of the Almighty Architect of the Universe.
What of Masonry in this matter?
Masonry has always stood above doctrinal discussion and dissension. Masonry has stood for and upon the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man and the Immortality of the Soul. And as Masonry and its predecessor organizations have stood on this hypothesis for sixty centuries or through the changing events of three cycles, so we may expect her to stand firm and immovable during the coming trials and emerge with the same thought to continue for centuries and cycles to come.
(Service letter No. 128, February 1951, Committee on Masonic Education, Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M., of Colorado. )
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Historical Notes On The Masonic Ritual
By Robert J. Meekren, F.P.S., Quebec, Canada
(The author reserves the right to republish this article in whole or part)
CHAPTER VII.
IN THE FIRST of these sketches I referred to the article on Degrees in Mackey's Encyclopedia, and pointed out that in the subsequent revisions it had remained unchanged as Mackey wrote it, although many facts bearing on the subject have since been brought to light. I wish now to draw attention to the third sentence:
"It is now the opinion of the best scholars that the division of the Masonic system into degrees was the task of the revivalists of the beginning of the eighteenth century; that before that period there was but one Degree, or rather one common platform of ritualism."
When this was written, at some time prior to 1874, the statement was perfectly correct. The German scholar and literateur, J. G. Findel, had published his history of Freemasonry in 1861, and in his work this theory was strongly advanced. This made a considerable impression on the elite of Masonic scholars elsewhere, and we find in the next fifteen years or so such men as Murray Lyon and William Hughan strenuously upholding it. I believe that in the beginning R. F. Gould also held it, though after his great History was published he became a stout supporter of what has been called the "Two Degree Hypothesis." This, so far as I have been able to discover, was first advanced by that learned and most astute student, G. W. Speth, the first Secretary of the famous Quatuor Coronati Lodge in London.
In the late nineties of the last century, there was a grand disputation in this Lodge upon the subject. Speth presented his arguments in favor of an original two degree system, supported by Gould, while Hughan upheld the Single Initiation theory. The arguments on both sides were weighty. Each of the two protagonists was supported by a galaxy of other students, both members of the Lodge and others, and some of these contributed essays to the discussion as long as the papers of their respective leaders. I do not suppose that ever before, and hardly ever since, has a question of Masonic scholarship been so thoroughly debated. As one, however, might expect, it left every one very much of the same opinion as before. However, the Two Degree hypothesis really prevailed, for almost all students who have since come to the fore have, with modifications, accepted it.
But it has to be noted that this discussion did not, at least so far as the principals were concerned, touch upon the contents of the ritual, but was confined strictly to arguments based upon definite documentary records; arguing only the question whether these documents did or did not indicate the existence of more than one ritualistic step previous to the beginning of the Grand Lodge. Which was perfectly correct procedure, for the whole problem is altogether too complex to be dealt with except step by step.
For the time being, therefore, it may be regarded as fairly well settled by the subsequent consensus of opinion that the records do show that, within the London area, and at the time of the formation of the Grand Lodge, two degrees were known and worked. And in some lodges at least, continued to be worked for an undetermined period after the present system of three degrees had been developed and generally adopted. For the rest of England there is almost no evidence at all, and in respect of Scotland it was taken as settled by both parties that there was, as Mackey puts it, "only one common platform of ritualism" until a full-fledged three degree system was imported from England. This latter belief was founded very largely, if not almost entirely, upon the conclusions drawn by Murray Lyon from the records of the old Scottish lodges, many of which go back into the seventeenth century, and in two instances back to the closing years of the sixteenth. I have to confess that I have been rather surprised that Speth, with his keen, critical mind, should have accepted with such docility Lyon's arguments, based as they were upon preconceptions and suppositions.
But though an appearance of agreement had been reached, the real problems were left still untouched. What were the ritualistic contents of the two degrees - the names or designations were not in doubt, - Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft ? And what relationship did they have to our familiar degrees of the same names? And supposing that there were two degrees worked in England, why should there have been only one in Scotland, as everyone concerned either asserted, or else admitted ? It was suggested, more or less plainly, that Scotland was backward, undeveloped, as compared with England. Gould indeed, seemed obscurely to suggest that there was really very little in common between the Masonries of the two countries. And yet, in 1721, Dr. Desaguliers visited Edinburgh and was, upon examination, "found duly qualified in all points of Masonry, and received as a brother" by the members of the old Lodge of Mary's Chapel. Mackey expresses the belief, in his History, that the Doctor went to Scotland on a missionary tour, in order to introduce the newly invented second and third degree. Murray Lyon also had the same idea. But Gould showed that Desaguliers went to Edinburgh, at the request of the civic authorities to advise them upon the plans for a new water system for the city. That, being there, he should take the opportunity to visit the old Lodge seems perfectly natural, nor is there any indication in the Minutes that anything new was proposed, much less introduced. And indeed, we might ask how the visitor, single-handed, could have proceeded to work a Master Mason's degree. On the other hand, the fact that Desaguliers "worked his way" into the Lodge does not tend to support Gould's suggestion that Scottish Masonry was then something entirely different from what was known in England.
After the grand disputation in Quatuor Coronati Lodge, the whole question of degrees lay more or less dormant for about thirty years, except for occasional articles and essays. But nothing new was presented until it was again raised in Quatuor Coronati by the then Secretary of the Lodge, the late Lionel Vibert. Accepting two degrees as original, or at least known and worked at the time of the formation of the Grand Lodge, he tried to combine the two interpretations by supposing that the operative Masons (assuming that there were such remaining in London) did, at the opening of the eighteenth century, work a two degree system, based upon the two famous pillars of Solomon's Temple. The first of these was conferred upon the Apprentice, and the second when the Apprentice became free of the Craft, a Fellow and Master. But when non-operative candidates were received, as they did not actually serve an apprenticeship, the custom arose of giving them both degrees at once. Then, when the non-operative Masons became numerous enough to form lodges of their own, they continued to give the operative two degrees at the same time, and called the two together by the same name as the first: Entered Apprentice, and that then they somehow and from somewhere obtained or devised a new degree, equivalent in its essentials to our third degree, but called Fellow Craft. Which theory gives us the confusing supposition that operatives and non-operatives (or Speculatives, if preferred) each worked a system of two degrees, with the same names, but which were different from each other.
This hypothesis very naturally roused a good deal of discussion, and on the whole did not meet with any great favor, though some students have accepted it in part, or in general outline, if not exactly as Vibert stated it.
It was shortly after this that Brother Kress and myself published the series of articles in the Builder on the origin and evolution of the Masonic degrees, and in the preparation of these we examined all the evidence available, and, among other things, we discovered that Lyon had misled all the scholars of his day as to the state of things in Scotland. We showed that, contrary to his conclusions, as far back as 1598 two grades, each with its formalities and secrets, had existed. The first of these came at the close of the Apprentice's servitude, when he was entered. Then, after a period of years (this seems to have varied as between lodges) the Entered Apprentice was "passed" as a Fellow of the Craft, and, so far as the lodge was concerned, was thereafter free to undertake any work on his own account and to employ others. In other words, he became a Master.
This fact appears very clearly and quite unmistakably in the very earliest lodge Minutes extant, those of the Lodge of Atchison's Haven, under date of 1598, - when the defeat of the Spanish Armada was as fresh in memory as the war with Germany and Japan is today. But though not so obviously perhaps, it is confirmed by the Minutes of other lodges in Scotland all through the seventeenth century and right down until well into the Grand Lodge era.
The significance of this discovery, of what was really obvious - though the obvious is very often the last thing to be seen - is twofold. First, it entirely negates the single Initiation Theory; so far as Scotland is concerned; and also, of course, all arguments and hypotheses that are based upon and depend upon it. Secondly, it shows something quite unexpected, that the designation Entered Apprentice has led generations of Masonic students into error by a very natural misunderstanding. The Entered Apprentice was not an apprentice. He had served his time as such and was free of his indentures; he was no longer bound to one Master, but could take work where he chose and go anywhere to seek it. In other words, he was a Journeyman, in exactly the same position as in our system of three degrees the Fellow Craft is supposed to have been. The bearing of this upon any attempt to reconstruct the early ritual usages of Accepted Masons prior to the Grand Lodge will be sufficiently obvious to everyone.
Some twelve years ago the late Douglas Knoop, in his book, The Scottish Mason and the Mason Word, propounded a new theory of the origin of the Masonic ritual. Though by this time no absolutely new theory was possible, for every possibility had been suggested at one time or another, during the last sixty or seventy years. Briefly stated, he supposes that the ritual, or as he puts it, the Institution of the Mason Word and its secrets, was invented at some time before the end of the sixteenth century, and very possibly considerably earlier. This, he thinks, was done deliberately, and more or less under the auspices of some kind of central authority, in order to protect the Accepted Masons against the competition of cowans and irregularly trained workmen, who may have been, and probably in many cases were, quite as skillful and competent as their "accepted" rivals. And then, due to economic and social changes in the whole community, a second step was invented and introduced in the interest of the Master employers, to delay the full freedom of the junior members of the Craft and to establish a monopoly for themselves.
In this, he was reverting to the first theories of the critical school of Masonic writers who, whatever view they may have taken as to the original number of degrees, were for the most part agreed that the Master Mason degree was an invention pure and simple, somehow foisted into the Masonic system at some time between the formation of the Grand Lodge in London, and the publication of Prichard's Masonry Dissected; that is, between 1717 and 1730.
Knoop's thesis was not received without opposition on the part of other students and has not, I believe, been accepted by very many, though, as it was published in an attractive and easily-read book it will (unfortunately, as I think) have considerable influence in leading intelligent readers, who have not had the opportunity of examining the evidence for themselves, back into the errors that it might have been hoped had received their final quietus. It is a striking instance of one very great obstacle to the prosecution of Masonic research. Brother Knoop, a scholar by profession, fully acquainted with the technique of research, Professor of Economic History in Manchester University, was, at the time he wrote, entirely unaware of the work done by Brother Kress and myself; although, sad to say, he might have found the articles in the library of the Manchester Association for Masonic Research right under his hand, so to speak. In any other branch of scholarship, whether historical, literary, or scientific, the student usually can find all works of moment, books, papers, articles, and so on, in almost any library of some size. Besides that, he will generally find bibliographies, and various indexes to guide him to what he requires. The Masonic student finds very little assistance of this kind. Libraries are few and generally far away. There are really no auxiliary guides, especially to what is buried in periodicals and proceedings. In fact, he is still handicapped by the same kind of isolation as the Mediaeval student, who wandered from country to country to find in monastic libraries the books he wished to read.
I must guard against the impression that may be given by what I have said, that Brother Knoop's work may be disregarded. Because I differ emphatically on one basic point does not mean that I do not appreciate that there is much of great value to be found in it. Indeed, but for the theory of invention (which to me does not seem to be required, even from the author's own point of view), I would agree with the greater part of what he says. As a matter of fact, Brother Kress and I, in concluding our series of articles on the problem of degrees, made some suggestions which superficially bear a strong resemblance to Brother Knoop's thesis. We pointed out that, while all through the sixteenth century, and probably much, if not all, of the fifteenth, two degrees (to use our modern term) were worked everywhere in Scotland (so far as there is any record), but that earlier still, it is possible that there was only a single initiatory rite. And we made the further suggestion that it was more or less indirectly economic changes that led to its division into two grades, each with its own secrets. This was an anticipation of the main part of Brother Knoop's thesis, which he supported with a wealth of detailed information, for naturally on such a subject he spoke with authority. Unfortunately, his knowledge of folklore and allied subjects seems to have been rather meager and superficial; nor did he seem to have realized the enormous tenacity of tradition. Had his knowledge extended further into this fiend one would hardly suppose that he could have suggested that the ritual observances of the Masons were deliberately invented for no other purpose than that of a modern Trades Union card, which is what his hypothesis seems to have amounted to.
Even on the surface, a system of ritualism appears a rather round-about way of accomplishing such a result, and one that would hardly commend itself to practical men; and that the Scottish contractor and business man was as practical and (to use a much abused word) realistic, as his descendants today, can surely be taken for granted.
In what has been said so far, we have been dealing with the state of affairs in Scotland, about which there is even yet no general agreement. That the two degree system existed in England at the critical period which saw the formation of the Grand Lodge has been almost universally taken as proved for getting on for fifty or sixty years, and this mainly on the grounds urged by Speth and Gould. The evidence consists of the Minutes and By-Laws of a few old lodges (all in fact now extant), and the Book of Constitutions. Gould showed in his seventeenth chapter (the second chapter of the second volume in the revision of Gould's work, made by Dudley Wright) that the grade or degree of Fellow Craft was the highest referred to in the original Regulations contained in that work; and we must take it that this was in conformity with the prevailing practice. When fifteen years later, in 1738, Anderson published the New Book of Constitutions, we know from other sources that three degrees were known, and we find in this second edition that a number of changes have been made to conform to the new arrangement. As, for example, in the first edition it was necessary that the Master-elect of a lodge should be a Fellow Craft. In the second edition it was required, as it has been ever since, that he should be a Master Mason. And like changes were made all through the new Regulations, wherever degrees or grades were referred to. These changes were evidently to make the Book, as a code of Masonic law, agree with the changes in practice. Not, however, the universal practice apparently, for some lodges continued to work under the older system, that is, two degrees.
Now it seems (and I include myself) that everyone who had had an interest in the subject took it for granted, without even raising a question, that what was true for London was equally true for the rest of England. This defect in observation was, however, not without some excuse. First of all, there are, outside the Old Charges, only some six or seven references to Freemasonry prior to its emergence into public notice in or about 1717, and of these only two records are at all definite. These two are Ashmole's Diary, and the Register of the old Lodge at York. London had the spotlight, and the rest of the country was in deep obscurity. Quite recently a new item of evidence has emerged, in the publication (in the Proceedings of Quatuor Coronati Lodge ) of the earliest Minutes of the old Lodge of Swalwell. They are referred to in Gould's History, but apparently have not before been given in full. These Minutes, indirectly, appear to show that the full freedom of that lodge, in the extreme north of England, was given to the Apprentice, when his time, as such, had been served, and in a single step. And also, that a Scottish Entered Apprentice could be recognized as a Mason, but that from the point of view of the Lodge he was neither Apprentice nor Fellow. Such, at least is my inference from the record published by Brother W. Waples; whether I am right in this, or not, the fact remains that it threw a fresh light on the subject for me, and led me to reconsider the few preGrand Lodge records that have been known to all Masonic students for many years. Taking Ashmole's Diary first, as the older of the two that tell us anything, we learn from it that when initiated at Warrington in Lancashire, he became at once a Fellow of the Fraternity. And when thirty years later he attended a lodge in London (probably under the auspices of the Masons' Company), the candidates who were received likewise became Fellows. That is, the Masonry known to Ashmole consisted of a single degree, or rite of initiation. The Register of the York lodge contains the names of those received from the years 1712 to 1725, - beginning before the formation of the Grand Lodge of London, and continuing after this event. And this, too, indicates a single step of initiation. The remaining notes or early references to Freemasonry do not, it is true, give any light on the point, but they contain nothing that is inconsistent with this conclusion. Thus we find that in Lancashire and London, before 1682, there was only a single initiation. In York, the same tradition was carried on up till 1725, at least; while in Durham, in the old lodges of Swalwell and Alnwick, up till 1750, and possibly later. And it is really not until 1723 that we have definite proof of the two degree arrangement in the Book of Constitutions. But, of course, we must suppose that it had been in existence for some time before; because the old idea that the Book offered new legislation is quite untenable. It simply, in a somewhat unsystematic way, codified the rules and usages then prevailing.
We must therefore assume that the single initiation which we supposed to have existed originally in Scotland, before the time of the earliest records extant, remained undivided in England for a century or more later; in fact, until it rather suddenly appeared in London, whence it was eventually propagated throughout the rest of the country, though not so rapidly as it has hitherto been customary to suppose.
Now, as has been pointed out above, the division or development of two degrees in Scotland was the indirect or reflex result of certain economic and social changes (for this may be taken as fairly proved by Brother Knoop). So we have to ask: What was there to produce a like result in England, where the conditions were entirely different? Social changes had, of course, taken place, but, so far as the fraternity of the Masons was concerned. in another manner altogether. The Statute of Henry VI, concerning the "Convocations and Chapters of Masons", enacted in 1525, entirely prevented any such development of the lodges as occurred in Scotland. There they became quasi-gilds, recognized in an indefinite way as part of, or organs of, the civil government. In England, after the passing of the Statute, they became illicit. That they were suppressed is hardly possible. but in order to exist they had to keep in decent obscurity; and certainly they thereafter had no chance of ever exercising a legal or recognized control over the Craft.
How, then, did the two degree system arise in London at some time between 1682, when we know that initiation made the entrant a Fellow of the Society (and at least an honorary Master), and some time in the early eighteenth century, before 1723, when we have proof that two degrees had come into existence. I do not know. We can perhaps guess, and I have done so, but I shall not enter into that question here, for my purpose in giving this slight sketch of the progress in dealing with the problem of Degrees has been for the purpose of providing a background for discussing the antiquity (or lack of it) of our third, or Master Mason's Degree. This I hope to do in a succeeding article.
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"Then may you hear the Welcome Voice
That tells of endless jobs begun
As God shall own your faithfulness
And greet you with the words 'Well Done'."
Reynold Edward Pearce Blight, F.P.S.
Brother Reynold Edward Pearce Blight, born at Torrington, Devonshire, England, May 19, 1879, died at Los Angeles, California, September 4, 1951.
Funeral services were held in the Cathedral of the Scottish Rite in Los Angeles the morning of September 8, 1951. The Masonic funeral ritual being recited by Ellsworth Meyer, P.G.M., acting for Liberal Arts Lodge No. 677 of which both Brother Blight and he had served as Master. Numerous other Grand Lodge and Scottish Rite officers assisted in the ceremonies.
Reynold Blight received his education in the public schools of Toronto, Canada. Coming to the United States soon thereafter he made his home in Los Angeles for the remainder of his life. By profession an expert accountant, he held many offices of responsibility and trust, serving as member of the Los Angeles City Board of Education, member of the Board of Library Commissioners, and as State Franchise Commissioner. He was Dean of the School of Commerce, Accounts, and Finance of Southwestern University, and held executive positions in many large corporations.
A profound student of religion, Brother Blight was for several years pastor of the Church of the People. He was a lay minister of the Episcopal Church, and his services were eagerly sought for lectures on civil, social, ethical and religious topics.
Brother Reynold Blight was an authority and prolific writer on the esoteric significance of ancient religions. He was editor of the Masonic Digest of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin. In 1923 he was called to Washington to do important work in the education program of the Supreme Council and was editor of the New Age and other publications of the Council 1923-24.
It was natural such a man should gravitate toward Masonry. Brother Blight was raised in Golden State Lodge No. 358 in 1913. Demitted in 1930 to help form Liberal Arts Lodge No. 677 in the community of Westwood and became its second Master. His abilities were recognized by Grand lodge of California, where he served as Acting Grand Chaplain, Grand Orator in 1934, Member of Masonic Home Endowment Board, and for years was Chairman of the Committee on Masonic Information.
In 1923 Brother Reynold Blight was coroneted a 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason. He was also a member of the Los Angeles York Rite bodies; Southgate Chapter No. 98, R.A.M.; Los Angeles Council No. 11, R. & S.M.; Golden West Commandery No. 43 K.T. (life member) and was also a life member of Al Malaikah Temple of the Shrine. He had been Sovereign of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine, San Gabriel Conclave No. 14, Los Angeles, and was a Past President of National Sojourners, Los Angeles Chapter No. 26. He had also received the Cross of Honor, Order of DeMoloy.
Our late Brother was No. 18 among the active Fellows of Philalethes Society, third eldest in seniority, and was recommended for membership by Cyrus F. Willard. F.P.S.
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By James K. Remick, F.P.S., San Diego, California
IT IS OF GENERAL knowledge that people composing the thinking element of races occupying the planet throughout ages past, have enjoyed some form of ceremonial of praise and appreciation for an abundant harvest. Perhaps the concepts of the ancients, as well as those of our time, were based as a rule upon material increment and regarded as the natural and proper effects from plants grown by the planting of good seed and by honest toil and endeavor. However, the harvest from seed planted by cultures of the past, as well as those performing in our day and time, may be of more than passing interest when viewed from the higher vistas of mental, moral and spiritual attainment.
Men of renown have crossed the stage in the drama of life, evidencing at the beginning of their performance an ideology and a wholesome effort to better the race into which they have been incarnated, as well as the world at large. Rare seeds from which plants of economic harmony, civic morals of high standard, and a body politic of constructive essence were nurtured and matured into harvests of peace, joy and progress, until the encroachment of the weeds and thistles sown by little men and their sycophants.
It seems that in the life-lessons and experiences undergone during the development of nations, there is ever present the positive and the negative elements of the polarity that make creation a possibility. One of these elements existing alone would be static only, but both sides of the polarity set into the creation of expressed energy, produce the infinite forms and exhibits of nature we sense about us. The laws of creation work whether the polarity is in harmonious adjustment or the reverse. Should the shade of evil darken the scene, should selfishness instead of honesty and justice prevail, should the inordinate delusion prevail that the frantic clutching for material wealth is clever, should the marplot "get away with it", then the harvest has been and will continue to be exactly according to the essence of the seed sown.
There is a ceremony vouchsafed us from the rituals of the ancient, known as the "Feast of Tishri." While such an observance can be assigned to the standard of just a feast of things, celebrated at a banquet, there is far more to be gathered from the lesson of the hour. Many men of earth are rushing to and fro, some in confusion, others in deadly earnest, to accomplish evil designs, political, moral, economic and religious. To the thinking Mason the alarm must have sounded and has been heard. Only the over-fed, the over-indolent and the mentally indifferent can refuse to ask, "What seed have we planted to result in the harvest of negative and disastrous plants and grains we see being garnered into the cultural lofts and barns of our day and age ?"
The very harvest of this hour is the exhibit of the brand of our sowing, and these measures we should take to prevent worse damage from the storm and strife. Tear out and burn the weeds in the soil of our culture; be informed of the poison ivy and the thistles that have so silently flourished while we have indifferently and indolently watched the lush growth of our neighbor's garden. irrigated by the moistures of our bounties. and ruthlessly reject efforts at mandates of darkness. regardless of race, creed, or color. It is the wail of the weakling to moan that it is difficult to distinguish the evil from the good in daily living. It is but stupid indifference and mental apathy that voices the plaintive cry of futility. We shall have to sow our seed quickly, this day and hour, attend our garden of morals, political, economical and social with the fertilizer of courage and honesty to ourselves and our children, and stow into the compost heap all the elements we know deep within our souls to be the sowers of winds and the reapers of whirlwinds.
Life is not complex; we only fabricate the structure that makes it so. Many "Feasts of Tishri" will come and go. therefore let us be coroneted and knighted with the happy assurance that we now, today, plant the seed that shall insure a glorious harvest in a beautiful world that we bequeath to our children and our children's children.
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New Members
Nathaniel Marcus Dillinger; Cherryville, North Carolina (Vouched for by Brother George S. Falls, Secretary of Cherryville Lodge No. 505, Cherryville, N. C.
William E. Hogel, Globe, Arizona (Recommended by James R. Malott, F.P.S.
Albert Levitt, Santa Monica, California (Recommended by Harold H. Kinney, M.P.S.
Milden Lee Medaris, Santa Monica, California (Recommended by Harold H. Kinney, M.P.S.)
Mark Albert Shaw, Sherman Oaks, Calif., (Vouched for by Stanley Cowin, Secretary of Westlake Lodge No. 392, Los Angeles, California.)
Albert Talbot, Berkeley, California (Recommended by Gabriel Ruscitti, M.P.S.)
Vernon Ellerslie Watkins; Sydney, Australia (Recommended by Norman C. Dutt, M.P.S.)
Woodrow W. Wilcox; Camden, Michigan (Vouched for by Brother Earl T. Clark, Secretary Camden Lodge No. 245, Camden, Michigan.)
* * *
The Philalethes - October-November, 1951; Volume 6, Number 7, - Walter A. Quincke, F.P.S., Editor; Harold H. Kinney, M.P.S., Associate Editor. Copyright 1951, by the Philalethes Society, 274 South Burlington Avenue, Los Angeles 4, California. Publication schedule: Eight (8) issues per year or volume: January, February, March, May (April-May); July (June-July); September (August-September); November (October-November); and December. No advertising in any form solicited or accepted. When requesting a change of address please give the old as well as the new address, including your postal zone number, if you have such. Annual subscription, in the United States of America, $3.00; elsewhere $4.00, payable in advance.
"The Philalethes" is the official publication of The Philalethes Society, formed solely by independent thinkers. All articles appearing in its columns express the ideas and opinions of their contributors only, and in no way need they express the opinion of the Society.
All communications should be addressed to the Society.
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Carl H. Claudy, Litt.D.. has been forty-three years a Craftsman. His accomplishments in the Fraternity are many and varied. Past Master of his Lodge; Past Venerable Master, Mithras Lodge of Perfection; Past Wise Master, Evangelist Chapter of Rose Croix; Past Venerable Master of Kadosh, Albert Pike Consistory; Past M.P. Sovereign, and Recorder, St. Simon Stylites Conclave, No. 51, Red Cross of Constantine, all of Washington, D.C.; crowned a Thirty-Third Degree Mason in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction; the only living Honorary Member of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey; the only Honorary Member the Grand Lodge of Utah has ever had; Honorary Member of the Grand Lodges of North Dakota, South Dakota Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Delaware; Honorary Member of King Solomon Lodge No. 7 of Woodbury, and Meridian Lodge No. 77, of Meridian, Connecticut; of Livingston Lodge No. 32, Livingston, Montana; of Union Kilwinning Lodge No. 4, Charleston, South Carolina; of Palestine Lodge No. 357, of Detroit, Michigan; of Temple-Noyes Lodge No. 32; Takoma Lodge No. 29, Samuel Gompers Lodge No. 45, The Railroad Square Club and Kalliapolis Grotto, all of Washington, D.C. Member of Washington Chapter No. 3. Washington, D.C., and Honorary Member of Hartford Chapter No. 6, Hartford, Connecticut, Heroes of '76; National Sojourners, Honorary Legion of Honor, Order of DeMolay. Executive Secretary of The Masonic Service Association of the United States; author of The Old Past Master, a Master's Wages, "Foreign Countries," United Masonic Relief, The Lion's Paw, Washington's Home and Fraternal Life, The Unknown Mason, Introduction to Freemasonry, "Where Your Treasure Is," These Were Brethren, Masonic Harvest and Old Tiler Talks, author of twelve successful and widely used Masonic plays and countless short stories, bulletins and articles about the Ancient Craft; recipient of the Henry Price Medal (Massachusetts), the Pierpont Edwards Distinguished Masonic Service Medal (Connecticut) and the Eminent Masonic Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal (Rhode Island), the Albert Gallatin Mackey Medal (South Carolina), the Jeremy L. Cross Medal (New Hampshire), Joseph Montfort Medal (North Carolina), the Distinguished Service Medal (District of Columbia), Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, 1943; former associate editor of "The Master Mason;" former editor of "Cathedral Calendar"; speaker and teacher of Masonry, he occasionally breaks into verse of the Fraternity.
Brother Claudy has been a member of Philalethes Society since 1932. It is a distinct pleasure to present the portrait of our distinguished Fellow on the cover page of this issue of "The Philalethes."
- Harold H. Kinney, M.P.S.
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Books and Pamphlets Received
"Outline of the History of Freemasonry", by J.S.M. Ward, B.A.; also
"The Apocalypse of Freemasonry" by the Rev'd. F. de P. Castells, A.K.C., both books a gift to The Philalethes Society Library from Alphonse Cerza, M.P.S.
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Nothing is impossible; there are ways which lead to everything; and if we had sufficient will, we should always have sufficient means. - La Rochefoucauld.
Books are the true levelers. They give to all who faithfully use them the society, the spiritual presence, of the best and greatest of our race. - Lord Chaning.
Make a rule and pray God to help you to keep it, never, if possible, to lie down at night without being able to say, "I have made one human being, at least, a little wiser, a little happier, or a little better this day." You will find it easier than you think, and pleasanter. - Charles Kingsley.
Work is the true elexir of life. The busiest man is the happiest man. Excellence in any art or profession is attained only by hard and persistent work. Never believe that you are perfect. When a man imagines, even after years of striving, that he has attained perfection, his decline begins. - Sir Theodore Martin.
Nobody tells me I can't. I can try as many jobs as I like. If I don't like the job, I can walk out the door. When I find a job that suits me, I can work right up to be manager of the department, or even president of the company, if I have the ability and the enterprise. If I want to start my own business and become an employer, I can do that, too. - George S. Benson.
As we face the new era that lies ahead, let us realize our responsibilities to those who have fought and died that democracy might live, by dedicating every fibre of our being to the preservation of the America we love. Let us forever pledge that we shall keep here in America a way of life that is wholesomely democratic, where citizens walk consciously and fearlessly as free men. - J. Edgar Hoover.
From the lowest depths there is a path to the loftiest heights. The tendency to persevere, to persist in spite of hindrances discouragements, and impossibilities - it is this in all things that distinguishes the strong soul from the weak. The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder - a waif, a nothing, a no-man. Have a purpose in life, and, having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you. - Thomas Carlyle.