112 Magazine November 2022 Issue 24

The Level

From the Editor

Hello Brethren, and welcome to another edition of “On The Level”. We hope you will find this issue No.24. I hope you have found “On The Level” both inspiring as well as educational. Brethren, any brother who cannot view the magazines on our website and would like to receive a printed copy please contact Brother Derek Mather SD, 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)

Oh thou whose temple we art, on the mountain of thy truth, let our sublime edifice display its glory. Let the eye of the master meet the son of light as he enters. Let the greater lights by the help of the lesser illuminate the whole scene of his duty and of his pleasure. Behold us with thy brightness at this hour leading thy young servant into the temple. Like the temple may he be as beauteous without and all glorious

soul be as capacious as thy truth, and his affection as pure as the serene heavens

the silent moon gives them light. Let him obey as the sun who labours with increasing strength until perfect day Let the purposes of his heart be as that of the stars, that tell of worlds unknown and are notices of a boundless benevolence. Let him move, like the heavenly orbs in harmony. Within the temple may he be as sacred as the altar, as sweet as the incense and pure as thy most holy place. Among thy ministering servants, may he be ever ready as an angel of God and faithful as a beloved son. When his service is finished let his memory be celebrated by love on the durable monuments of eternity, and his reward be in the silent, calm, joy of

the hand of God, the Grand Master of us all Amen

The Right Worshipful Master

Hello Brethren, I hope this edition finds you all well? It seems like it has only been five meinutes since I was installed into the chair of King Solomon last December. First let me say to you, “Thank You,” for allowing me to serve you as Master. I consider being elected to this noble position both a privilege and an honour, and pray I have served 112 and the Craft with dignity and humility. To follow in my dad’s footsteps has been amazing and I look forward to being with as many of you as I possibly can during the coming year. May I also, on behalf of all the family, thank you all who sent messages, cards, and phone calls after the passing of my big brother, Bro. Colin Edgar to the Grand Lodge above.

Sadly the months of August and September also seen 3 other brethren passing to Grand Lodge and our deepest sympathies go out to their families. On Thursday 9th September, we learned the very sad news of the death of our Sovereign Queen, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11, at the age of 96 years old. It was an honour and a privilege to stand with the City Sword at the Proclomation at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh and be part of history carrying out my ceremonial duties as City Officer to the Lord Provost.

On Sunday 9th October we held our first Sunday Cabaret for many years and with the tickets being a complete sell out, the afternoon’s venture was a great success. The Cabaret were man and wife act called Dynamix who had the Harmony Hall dance floor packed with from start to finish.

As we enter into November the members of 112 today, will remember the 112 brethren of yesterday who served their King and country during both WW1 and WW1, with many paying the ultimate sacrifice to give us our today. WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

For the first time, we are having a Christmas Party Night on Friday 2nd December and open to all. Should any member require tickets please come and speak to me should you wish more information. Like myself many of our guests at our recent Cabaret back in October are now looking forward to next event which will be announced soon Whilst on the subject of the up and coming festival season, may I on behalf of all the members of St. John Fisherrow No. 112 wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a very Prosperous New Year.

Bro. Tom Edgar RWM www.stjohn112.co.uk

Our Lodge Our History

The Alter

In the center of the lodge stands the Altar. On the East, South and West, should be placed one of the represent atives of the Three Lesser Lights, but never on the North, for that is the place of darkness.

On its top, in due arrangement, should lie the Three Great Lights. Thus arranged, it may well be considered "the most important article of furniture in the lodge."

Too universal in its use, both through space and time to admit our tracing its history here, we must content ourselves with some reference to the ideas embodied in it.

To this end let us remember here and every where, that the Masonic life is not that which occurs in the lodge room alone, for that is but its allegorical picture, its tracing board. But it is that which a mason should do and be in all circumstances, under the inspiration of the Fraternity and its teachings Thus understood, the Altar stands symbolically for something that must operate at the center of Masonic life.

Often serving as a table whereon the worshipper may lay his gifts to God, the Altar may remind us of the necessity of that human gratitude which lead us to return to Him the gifts He has showered upon us.

This is that teaching of stewardship found in all religions to remind us that our very lives are not our own, having been bought with a price, and that our talents are held in trustee ship to be rendered again to Him to whom they belong.

Thus stated, I know the matter may sound unappealing but once we encounter a man who lives his life as a stewardship held in the frail tenure of the flesh, we see to what high issues the character of man may ascend.

In its proper sense also, the Altar serves as a sanctuary, a place of refuge, and this too has much to tell us.

In the earlier centuries of our era, before the complete development of the common law, the hunted criminal, fleeing from his pursuers, would escape to a church and lay hold of the Altar; in that he found safety and a chance to prove his innocence, if innocent he was.

Out of this rose the beautiful custom of Sanctuary, the chivalrous unselfish harboring of the weak, the sorrowful and the afflicted.

A man is no true Mason in whose nature there is not at least one inner chamber in which the weary may find rest and the weak may have protection.

Author: V.W.Bro. Harold W. Hughes Grant 1957

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

In the continental rites of Masonry, as practised in France, in Germany, and in other countries of Europe, it is an invariable custom to present the newly initiated candidate not only, as we do, with a white leather apron, but also with two pairs of white kid gloves, one a man’s pair for himself, and the other a woman’s, to be presented by him in turn to his wife or his betrothed, according to the custom of the German masons, or, according to the French, to the female whom he most esteems, which, indeed, amounts, or should amount, to the same thing.

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

That it was rumoured

Napoleon was a freemason but never proven, although he did adopt the title of “Protector of Freemasonry”. However, his four brothers were masons, many of his Officers, members of his Grand Council for the Empire and 22 of the 30 Marshals of France were also Freema sons.Even his wife, was admitted into a French female lodge in 1804.

Degree Working Tools

My brothers, being clothed and by command of the R W M, I now present the working tools of an E A F M, which are the 24" gauge, the chisel and the mallet.

The 24" gauge my brothers, is an instrument made use of by operative masons to measure and lay out their work, but we, as Free and Accepted Masons, are taught to make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of dividing our time. It being divided into 24 equal parts, is emblematical of the 24 hours of the day, which we are taught to divide into three equal parts whereby are found, eight hours for the service of God and the worthy distressed brother, eight for our usual vocations and eight for refreshment and sleep. The Chisel morally demonstrates the advan tages of discipline and education The mind, like the diamond in its original state, is rude and unpolished, but as the effects of the chisel on its external coat soon present to view the latent beauties of the diamond, so education discovers the latent virtues of the mind and draws them forth to range the wide fields of matter and space to display the summit of human knowledge, our duty to God and to man.

The Mallet teaches us to correct our irregularities and to reduce man to a proper level, so that by quiet deportment, he may in the school of discipline, learn to be content. What the mallet is to the workman, enlightened reason is to the passions. It curbs ambition, moderates anger, represses envy and encourages all good dispositions from whence arise among all good men and masons, that comely order that nothing earthly gives or can destroy, the souls calm sunshine, the heart felt joy.

Master

The Latin root mag had the general meaning of great as in "magnitude"; it was the source of the Latin magister, head, chief,principal, the word of which "magistrate" was made During the Middle Ages it fell into use as a conventional title applied to persons in superior rank, preserved in our own familiar "mister," always written "Mr", colloquial form of "master." Also it came to be used' of a man who had overcome the difficulties in learning an art, thereby proving himself to be greater than his task, as when it is said of an artist who has overcome all the obstacles and difficulties of painting, "He is a master." A Master Mason is so called because be has proved himself capable of mastering the work; also because he belongs to a Degree so named

Secrecy

From Se, apart, and cernere, separate, the Latins had secretum, suggesting something separated from other things, apart from common knowledge, hidden, covered, isolated, hence “secrecy.” There is a fundamental difference between “secret” and “hidden,” far whereas the latter may mean that nobody knows where a thing is, nothing can be secret e without at least one person knowing it. The secrets of Freemasonry are known to all Masons, therefore are not hidden; they are secrets only in the sense that they are not known to profanes A similar word is “occult,” which means a thing naturally secret, one, as it were, that secretes itself, so that few can know about it. See also the paragraphs on “clandestine” and “mystery” in the preceding pages. There is also another less familiar word in Masonry meaning hidden, covered up, concealed, secret; it is pronounced “hail” but is spelled “hele.”

Tolerance

Virtue?

Freemasonry has four cardinal virtues Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude and Justice.

Throughout masonic ritual we are taught the concepts of brotherly love and affection. The idea of giving our brothers respect for their ideas even when we don't agree with them is represented by the symbolism of the level When we restrain ourselves from making a negative comment or from interrupting because we feel we 'know better' than another person, we exhibit Temperance, Prudence and Fortitude, depending on how strongly we disagree

All of this boils down to one word, which we rarely use in masonic ritual, Tolerance. The word Tolerance embodies much of what we talk about in our masonic ritual. Whether we agree or disagree with those within or outside our fraternity from time to time, the principles of Freemasonry teach us to be tolerant of other beliefs or ideas. Unfortunately in the modern world Tolerance sometimes takes on an odd new meaning, one of inaction. Often out of an abundance of Tolerance we sit back and are inactive in the face of vicious intolerance Or, even worse, in the face of intolerance, we ourselves become intolerant.

In all of the known history of mankind, intolerance has never defeated intolerance, hate has never defeated hate. Generally one form of intolerance or hate just replaces another. At times in the history of our planet we have seen the cycle of hate, intolerance and associated violence, happen over and over again. Only when true Tolerance is brought out, the cycle of hate, intolerance and associated violence is broken

Human beings are hard wired, for whatever reason, to make hate an easy emotion. Perhaps it is fight or flight, or perhaps some other reason. The fact is hate can easily be brought

out in us, it can then be misguided by ourselves or by outside influences to cause us to act on hate. It is no wonder when we look at the dictators around the world in the past and today you see they give the people following them a villain, someone or something, to hate so the people following them can be more easily manipulated into the violence which comes with hate and intolerance.

Standing up to intolerance and seeking Justice for all is the only way to truly triumph over hate and intolerance. Unfortunately too often we as human beings try to group people, which leads to further intolerance. Seeking Justice means the specific individuals to blame for the injustice are found and punished accordingly Making a generalization based on what or who the perpetrator of the injustice is, is just another form of intolerance. The fact is Justice needs Tolerance in it's verdicts and without Justice there is no Tolerance.

It is so easy to turn to hate and intolerance in the face of the events going on in our World today. Possibly at no other time has the ideas of Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude, Justice and Tolerance been so important, not just for Freemasonry, for the entire World. In the face of the vicious killing of innocent lives, whether it be a man in a truck, a gunmen who decides to punish others for the life they live, someone who guns people down for the uniform they wear, or someone who is unjustly killed while living their lives under the laws of a free society, it is so easy to turn to hate and intolerance As Freemasons we need to rise above and set an example as we stand as upright citizens by the virtues we hold dear!

A Life of Service and Dedication

Sadly on Thursday 9th September, Her Majesty the Queen passed away in the beautiful surroundings of Balmoral Castle, to set off a period of 10 days of respectful mourning and rightly so for a Head of State who will be judged by history as one of the most influential world leaders of our time, and as a relentless and gentle force for peace and goodwill nationally and internationally.

As we witnessed on TV the thousands of people who lined the motorway from Speyside to Edinburgh had the opportunity to demonstrate our appreciation, our admiration, our love and respect for the Queen who loved Scotland and her capital city. As Her coffin lay in St. Giles the quiet affection and respect shown by the enormous crowds in Edinburgh were not only a credit to the city but a clear demonstration that Edinburgh wished to do the very best for the Queen and her grieving family.

The Queen was a role model, showing that a hugely talented woman, in a male dominated world, can and did outshine anyone a true inspiration I hope for women and girls in this city and far beyond

Her total dedication to public service over 70 years is unmatched, and her ability to maintain that role with scarcely missing a step , admirable and something we can only aspire to emulate.

Many people here in the UK, and beyond, - perhaps millions will have treasured personal memories of their contact with Queen Elizabeth, as indeed I do. They like me, will be processing often unexpected emotional responses Such was the impact and influence of the Queen on us.

We all had a part of her and we will all miss her in different and highly personal ways. I know that many charities, veterans, serving service personnel and a broad range of organisations and individuals will be trying to take in the loss of someone who meant so much to them and took a direct personal interest in their activities.To many, whether individual citizens, volunteers or indeed world leaders she was a wise mother and grandmother

The Queen had a unique talent for uniting people where there was division. Even as she lies in State, at rest after a lifetime of dedication and work, she is uniting the nation, healing at least for the moment the anger and divisions which have been so evident over the past few years. Your Majesty, Thank you for a life of service, devotion and dedication to your people and may you rest in eternal peace

So let us celebrate a unique Head of State and let us thank her for the legacy she has left us, and as we gently transition to a new era under King Charles 111 let us offer thanks for a truly great world leader and friend and be proud that we have had the privilege of knowing first hand her warmth, dedication humour and sheer professionalism.

THE KING

The art of embellishing language with the ornaments of construction, so as to enable the speaker to persuade or affect his hearers. It supposes and requires a proper acquaintance with the rest of the liberal arts; for the first step toward adorning a discourse is for the speaker to become thoroughly acquainted with its subject, and hence the ancient rule that that the orator should be acquainted with all the arts and sciences Its importance as a branch of liberal education is recommended to the Freemason in the Fellow Craft's Degree. It is one of the seven liberal arts and sciences, the second in order, and is described in the ancient Constitutions as "retoricke that teacheth a man to speake faire and in subtill terms."

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

Did Ye Ken.........

The Cross of St. Andrew A saltire or cross whose decussation or crossing of the arms is in the form of the letter X Said to be the form of cross on which Saint Andrew suffered martyrdom. As he is the patron saint of Scotland, the Saint Andrew's cross forms a part of the jewel of the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, which is "a star set with brilliants having in the center a field azure (blue), charged with Saint Andrew on the cross, gold this is pendant from the upper band of the collar, while from the lower band is pendant the jewel proper, the Compasses extended, with the Square and Segment of a Circle of 90, the points of the Compasses resting on the Segment, and in the center, the Sun between the Square and Compasses.'' The Saint Andrew's cross is also the jewel of the Twenty-ninth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, or Grand Scottish Knight of Saint Andrew.

That Masonic symbols are usually regarded as existing because of the secrecy of the fraternity. However, in reality, Freemasonry started being illustrated by symbols because at the very beginning most Freemasons could not read, so the symbols served to remind the members of the teachings of the Fraternity This same philosophy applies to signs and tokens as up until the modern era, most could not read or write and these were the credentials resumes and diplomas of the day.

Mosaic......

This word has nothing to do with Moses. Its root was the Greek mousa, a muse, suggesting something artistic. The same root appears in our “museum,” literally a place where artistic work is exhibited. Through the Latin it came into modern languages and during the Middle Ages became narrowed down to mean a pattern formed by small pieces of inlay, a form of decorative work much in vogue during the time of the Opera tive Masons Our “mosaic pavement is so called because it consists of an inlay pattern, small black and white squares alternating to suggest day and night.

At the Regular Meeting on 16th December 1914

Bro James Thom was installed as the Right Worshipful Master for 1915. He was again in stalled on 15th December 1915 as Right Worshipful Master for the year 1916. During Bro. Thom’s two years in office the Lodge Initiated a considerable number of Candidates.

At the Regular Meeting held on 15th November 1916

Bro. Thom R.W.M. extended congratulations on behalf of the Lodge to Bro. William constable on his elevation to the Honourable position of Provost of the Burgh of Musselburgh.

At the Regular Meeting held on 20th December 1916

Bro Sam Greenwood was installed as Right Worshipful Master for the year 1917

At a Special Meeting held on 14th March 1917

The R.W.M. intimated that Bro. Richard Combe had been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. Some forty candidates were initiated into the Lodge in Bro. greenwood’s first year as Master

At a Special Meeting held on 31st October 1917

The R.W.M. informed the Brethren that, along with his Office Bearers, he had conferred the Third Degree in Lodge Thorntree, Prestonpans No.1038. This appears to have been the first time the Lodge visited and conferred a degree.

At a Regular Meeting held on 19th December 1917

Bro Sam Greenwood was installed as Right Worshipful Master for the year 1918 Sixty candidates were initiated into the Lodge during this year.

From day to day, from generation to genera tion, the Great Architect of the Universe draws upon his Trestleboard the designs for the slowly rising Temple of civilization. Mankind are his workmen, and Freemasons, by training and equipment, should be Master Workmen, capable of the highest character of workmanship and the greatest degree of loyalty and understanding of all who toil upon the Temple or contribute of their means and leadership to its completion. As the Temple arises, as the magnificence and beauty of the structure become more apparent, and as the number of workmen increases, numerous and perplexing problems develop, especially as to the mutual relationships and rewards of those in author ity and those who toil. Envy of and ambition for power, impatience, selfish greed for quick rewards, enter into the minds and shape the motives of men, making them forget that no one class can build the Temple without the other; that honest workmen seek and receive rewards only for work well done, and the contention and strife always result in tragedy and in a roll call of the workmen inevitably discloses and condemns the contentious and unfaithful.

There is today a great confusion in and about our modern Temple of Industry, and out of it problems present themselves which can only be solved in the light and spirit of fundamen tal truth: The spirit and intent of Freemasonry have ever been directed to the search for truth and its applications to those problems which continually effect the welfare of mankind. It is, therefore, entirely within the scope of Masonic thought and present day Masonic service to turn our attention, as men and Masons, to the immediate and very acute problem of the relationship between Capitol and Labor, between the man who toils with

his hands and the man who toils with the problems of investment and organized produc tion. Not only is it consistent with the spirit of Freemasonry that we study the problems that confront us in this field of human endeavor, but it is imperative that we make our contribution to the righteous solution of those problems.

As a Fraternity we are not strangers to the field in which these problems are found, and in which they must be solved No organization is more logically equipped to discuss the questions involved in the relationships of Capitol and Labor than is Freemasonry, for we are a fraternity which, from its ancient beginning, and all through the succeeding centuries, has exalted the supreme value of constructive industry

We are historically equipped to discuss the problem, for in the fact of our origin and in the symbolism of our degrees we are builders. We are not concerned with the time honored scholastic controversy as to the accurate link between brethren of the three fold covenant of today and the ancients. It should be sufficient that, whether our descent can be traced without a break or not, we are inseparably the descendants in tradition, in much of form, and in more of the spirit of men who were toilers and whose whole fellowship and scheme of fraternal association was based on toil. Essential Freemasonry began in Solomon's day in a unique, efficient, and fine-spirited industrial organization. That tradition was embodied in the remarkable record of the Craftsmen's guilds and the companies of Cathedral builders who so united faith and imagination with skill as to give us those majestic edifices which some one has fitly described as being "Music, frozen into stone."

In modern times our ranks have known men who labored physically as well as men whose industry was real though they were workers with the stuff of mind and heart. Few are the Freemasons who have not known at some

time what it means to labor operatively as well as speculatively. Such men as Washington, Franklin, Marshall, and all our statesmen and public servants, were toilers whose mental and moral industry laid well the stones in our Temple of human freedom and happiness.

We are committed to the thoughtful consider ation of the social phases of industry by reason of our idealism and our fraternal philosophy. Our body of truth and our program of ideals are both defined and set forth in the terms and symbols of the toiler; for the material uses of the gauge, the mallet, the square, level, plumb, compass and trowel bring to us a practical social, moral and spiritual message.

Nor is it too much to say that we are compelled to the consideration of this theme by reason of our own present fraternal ambition and aspiration; for no field of human accomplishment demands so clearly and insistently a program of constructive thinking and real service as does that of industry. By the memory of our past and by the need of our present we are called to the attainment of better and happier social relationships. That attainment is the goal of all fraternal effort and the lack of it the cause of all strife in the social and industrial scheme of things.

If all this be true, then what possible message can Freemasonry bring to all men in these days of complicated industrial and social anxieties? It is recognized that Freemasonry has a wealth of truth to draw upon and that the Institution is qualified to voice many essen tials which seem altogether applicable In the first place Freemasonry must declare without qualification that there is a solution for the problem. Holding the principles which we hold as a Fraternity, we must steadfastly assert the possibility of a solution and as steadfastly we must be dedicated to the attainment of that solution We must be practical and aggressive idealists. We must be constructive and persistent optimists. We must proclaim the possibility of better things in

the domain of human relationship. We are challenged by the supine pessimism of those who assert that industrial conditions can never be otherwise than contentious. They take the attitude of tolerant cynicism, and would have us believe that strife is the normalcy of indus trial conditions. They argue for inevitability of friction in the world of production, even as sixty years ago men argued that slavery might be regulated but never wiped out. But pessimism and the tolerant and smiling sneer of the cynic have no real place in the program of forward moving Freemasonry. The spirit of Freemasonry asserts that industrial quarrels can find the norm of peace. As individuals we may hinder or delay the solution, or we may aid its speedy and happy attainment; but the right adjustment between the man who toils at the top and the man who toils at the bottom will and must come. To deny this is to deny the very hope upon which fraternalism is founded, for we are in existence that we may organize and make effective that "society of friends and brother among whom no contention should ever exist, save that noble contention, or rather emulation, of who best can work and best agree." To assert or surren der to the contrary is to discourage the chief effort and to deny the chief objective of our idealism If a right solution is not possible and attainable, then Freemasonry in the domain of Fraternalism is erected upon a false premise and is pursuing the mockery of a foolish dream.

"It is in the power of Freemasonry, secondly, to point out the way which leads to the solution of the difficulties between Capitol and Labor." We may not be wise enough to authoritatively prophecy the exact form of the final solution, When evolved and it will be evolved, not created it will be the cumula tive product of many minds and the program of a unified and sympathetic wealth of wisdom. We may be confident, however, of the direction in which the solution may be found,

and much of the certainty of our conviction we owe to the lessons learned at the Altar of our Fraternal Covenant. We can best express that conviction first in its negative form. A right social and industrial relationship and a lasting industrial peace will not be attained by the enforced ignorance of the toiler. Many there are who assert that the demands of the organized laborer are due to the fact that he is over educated. Few utter the doctrine aloud, but secretly they recognize that the more the mass of men the more supine and quies cent they remain under social and political inequity. They are right as to ignorance being a state which tends to that sort of peace which is founded upon crushed souls, stunted intellects, and brute surrender to the crack of some industrially autocratic whip, which results from the abject darkness of ignorance. Freemasonry cries out:"This is no solution! 'Ye Shall Know The Truth, and the Truth Shall Make You Free!' We seek that high and holy peace which arises from the equitable agree ment of free men men who are free in speech, in faith and in franchise!"

Nor will our problem be solved by the erection of some experimental and untried system of human government. The faults which we seek to remedy are not found in the mechanical arrangement of government We challenge our Bolshevist neighbor with the statement that the faulty operation of the plumbing is not remedied by burning down the house. Politi cal, social, and industrial wrongs will not be corrected by the destruction of constituted authority and the substitution of untried and fanatical experiments. A sure remedy is possible under our present government and with the right use and direction of our present essential and time-proven institutions.

In still another direction will we vainly seek peace It will not be found upon the road to violence. Peace will not be obtained by the use of force or compulsion as a working tool in the hand of either party to our present industrial

situation. It will not come by ignoring public interest, by murder, sabotage, boycotting, or intimidation of free men on the one hand; nor by punitive legislation, the employment of troops and armed guards, the threatening flash of bayonets, or the imposition of judicial man date on the other hand. Grant that these may now seem to be the inevitable incidents on the present abnormal and strained status of society; but surely any intelligence can perceive that victories thus gained and a peace thus established are both alike but temporary One does not cure some surface eruption by a surface medication. That may suffice for the moment to arrest the breaking out. To permanently cure you must seek and treat the hidden point of focal infection. When we turn, then, to the source of controversy and hateful dissention we enter the realm of the moral and spiritual; and we find that "our process of cure is a process of education. We shall achieve industrial peace only by education." Not education of just one side but of both sides. Not education of a part of the man but educa tion of the whole of the man. Not merely or even principally an education of the minds of men, but supremely an education of the hearts of men. Our only hope is the creation of a right spirit in the very life of the race; and that is more largely a matter of the heart than of the head

We recall an ancient legend that delineates the pitiful and sordid folly of some discontented workmen. Three of them plunged into the degradation of crime and the shame of violence, not because they were not skilled workmen, not for any lack, so far as we know, of some portion of "Brains," but chiefly because their spirit was wrong. Their attitude was wrong. Their hearts were wrong. They had not the vision of sanctity, the dignity and the true reward for workmanship. They were working not for the joy of work and its productive result, but solely for the wage they proposed to demand.

They came asking a full days wage for only a partial return. The Temple was not finished, but they must be paid, whether or no; and, dominated by their passion for personal advantage and reward, they plunged into the black darkness of crime and treachery. When the roll was called it was found that there were twelve others who did not follow the three into that awful experience because they were workmen who suddenly had a vision of the real meaning of it all. They recanted not only because of some cold calculation of intellect but because the right spirit entered into their hearts. A something deep within them responded to the appeal of loyalty. The high call of faith and duty did not sound within their ears in vain; and they remained loyal to the leadership of one who was not merely a King but a Brother and who led them out into a larger, finer, and more splendid service. They redeemed themselves by the new spirit in which they took up their task.

If the hearts of men are right, then in the ultimate social and industrial formula true justice and a real fraternity will be dominant factors. Not some shallow and empty concep tion of justice and fraternity, not a mere gesture of affection, but a great, deep passion in the hearts of men for equity and happy fellow ship What we most need is a real spirit of toleration, a spirit of toleration which, while not nullifying the right to personal opinion and conviction, yet shall save us from being so intent upon personal advantage as to lose sight of our love for the person and the rights of our brother Such a conception of fraternity disseminated among all men will aid us to love each other more than we do our several social, economic, religious or political doctrines. In that spirit we shall find readjustment, and the resultant details of wages, hours, organization and privileges will inevitably be sound We are in no danger from men who disagree in judgment, but we may well fear an antagonism of hearts marked by hate and evil or selfish motive.

The achievement of this ideal will be accom plished only when the rule of love shall hold its sway over us. Not an empty imitation of affection or a mere pose, but a love which is first of all a reverent affection for and trust in God who is Father of us all and the resultant consciousness of our kinship with all mankind. Though the centuries Freemasonry has been one of the potent factors in keeping bright in human hearts that Light of Love, that Beacon of Brotherhood, which long ago issued forth from the Great Heart of Creation It is now the supreme privilege of every Freemason to hold that flame of hope high and unextinguished. At this very "Tide in the affairs of men" we are passing through dark days of strife and perplexity in our industrial and social world, but in the fundamentals of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man we have light enough to see us through the shadows. A great soul once caught the vision of the real source of true optimism and courage when he cried out:

"If I Stoop, Into a dark, tremendous sea of cloud, It is but for a time; I press God's lamp Close to my heart; its splendor soon or late Shall pierce the gloom; I shall emerge somewhere." Let us repeat that verse in the plural form, and thus epitomize the optimism that must be ours: "If We Stoop, Into a dark tremendous sea of cloud, It is but for a time; we press God's lamp Close to our hearts; its splendor soon or late Shall pierce the gloom; we shall emerge somewhere." The point of that emergence is hidden as yet in the silent mystery of human destiny, but if we will courageously hold up God's lamp of love and brotherhood, we are justified in the assurance that mankind will eventually emerge into a social order which shall know not only a "Living" but a "Loving" wage; a social order where the public well being and the common prosperity shall be based upon the surer foun dation of a sacred public trust and an exalted sense of unselfish service.