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On Seeking Masonic Membership
by Henry C. Clausen
ON SEEKING MASONIC MEMBERSHIP
By Henry C. Clausen 33~
Past Sovereign Grand commander
A.A.S.R.
TO A NON-MASON:
YOU MUST SEEK
MASONIC
MEMBERSHIP!
Ask and you shall receive! Knock and the door will be
opened unto you! Seek and you shall find! As a Past Grand
Master of Masons in California, these comments of mine may be
helpful.
Many men live a lifetime and never know they must ask for
admission to the world's oldest, most purposeful and greatest
Fraternity. They do not realize that they will not be invited.
They must come in of their own free will and accord, without
persuasion, for, that is the manner in which many millions of
Masons in America have been accepted.
True, some countries have interpreted the ritual in a more
liberal fashion. For example, we are reliably informed that the
United Grand Lodge of England, Premier Grand Lodge of the World,
has permitted as "proper" the practice of making an approach to
carefully selected men whom those making the approach consider to
be suitable candidates. This, I think, is an outgrowth of the
situation which prevailed in the Middle Ages when altered
conditions of trade resulted in old guilds introducing honorary
members. The fundamental requirement, in any event, is that
membership must be wholly voluntary, without persuasion, so that
whether approached or voluntarily requested the application
itself is of the candidate's own free will and accord.
You may ask, therefore, is visible proof available of the
claimed great antiquity of your Order? Do Masons revere God?
Why are Masons called builders? Are Masons dedicated to freedom
and are they champions of liberty? Do they practice charity and
benevolence and strive to promote human welfare? Do Masons
number among them many who are outstanding and famous in the
fields of business, the professions, finance, the arts, music and
high public and military service?
Our Masonic antiquity is demonstrated by a so-called Regius
Poem written around the year 1390, when King Richard II reigned
in England, a century before Columbus. It was part of the King's
Library that George II presented to the British Museum in 1757.
Rediscovered by James O. Halliwell, a non-Mason, and rebound in
its present form in 1838, it consists of 794 lines of rhymed
English verse and claims there was an introduction of Masonry
into England during the reign of Athelstan, who ascended the
throne in A.D. 925. It sets forth regulations for the Society,
fifteen articles and fifteen points and rules of behavior at
church, teaching duties to God and Church and Country, and
inculcating brotherhood. While the real roots of Masonry are
lost in faraway mists, these items show that our recorded history
goes back well over 600 years. Further proof is furnished
through English statutes as, for example, one of 1350 (25 Edward
III, Cap. III) which regulated wages of a "Master...Mason at 4
pence per day." The Fabric Role of the 12th century Exeter
Cathedral referred to "Freemasons."
The historical advance of science also treats of our
operative ancient brethren who were architects and stonemasons of
geometry. It is apparent from this portrayal that they had a
very real and personal identification with the Deity and that
this fervent devotion provided energy to build cathedrals. They
embraced the teachings of Plato and understood and applied
Pythagorean relationships. Just as there is a beauty of harmony
credited to mathematical relationships on which music is based,
in precisely the same way these master geometricians treated
architecture. The architects and stonemasons became the
personification of geometry, performing extraordinary feats with
squares and compasses. Geometrical proportion, not measurement,
was the rule. Their marks as stonemasons were derived from
geometric constructions. The mighty works they wrought,
cathedrals with Gothic spires pointing toward the heavens, and
especially their "association," were not without danger and
opposition, bearing in mind the Inquisition established in 1229,
the Saint Bartholomew's Eve Massacre of 1572, and the revocation
of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. These historical points remind
us of the need for our cautions against cowans and eavesdroppers.
Our operative Brethren of the Middle Ages thus were the
builders of mighty cathedrals throughout the British Isles and
continental Europe, many of which still stand. These skilled
craftsmen wrote in enduring stone impressive stories of
achievement, frequently chiseled with symbolic markings. With
these architectural structures of these master builders there was
a companion moral code. These grew up together. Out of this
background modern Freemasonry was born.
Although "Lodges" had existed for centuries, four of the
"old" Lodges met in London on St. John the Baptist's Day, June
24, 1717, and formed the first Grand Lodge of England, thereafter
known as the Premier Grand Lodge of the world. No longer
operative as of old, the Masons carried on the traditions and
used the tools of the craft as emblems to symbolize principles of
conduct in a continued effort to build a better world.
The American colonial Masonic organizations stemmed from
this Grand Lodge of England and were formed soon after 1717. Its
then Grand Master appointed Colonel Daniel Coxe as Provincial
Grand Master of New York, New Jersy and Pennsylvania on June 5,
1730, and Henry Price of Boston as Provincial Grand Master of New
England in April 1733.
George Washington joined Fredericksburg, Virginia Lodge in
1752 and later was Master of Alexandria Lodge. As Grand Master
Pro Tem of the Grand Lodge of Maryland and while President of the
United States, he laid the cornerstone of our Nation's Capitol on
September 18, 1793. Items from his Masonic life which we can see
today include his Masonic apron, the square and compass he used
as a surveyor, and the Masonic Bible on which he took his oath of
office, administered by Chancellor and Grand Master of the Grand
Lodge of New York, Robert R. Livingston.
Masons are dedicated to freedom and are champions of
liberty. This is as much a cardinal characteristic today as it
was when colonial Masons were in the forefront of our fight for
freedom and independence. Even then, however, Masonic Lodges
remained Sanctuaries where war passions were conciliated with
brotherhood. The background thus displayed makes clear that no
tyrant nor dictator can exist in a country where Freemasonry
prevails and hence the first act of a tyrant or dictator is to
obliterate Freemasonry. Masons, imbued with traditional concepts
of freedom and liberty, wielded a vital influence and vigorously
worked to put their ideals into practice. Our distinguished
Revolutionary War Brethren included, among others, these leaders"
Washington, LaFayette, Franklin, Hancock, Revere, John Paul
Jones, Rufus King, James Otis, Baron von Steuben and Joseph
Warren.
Masons practice charity and benevolence and strive to
promote human welfare. All over the world Masons care for their
indigent Brethen, widows and orphans; maintain homes; support
their mother countries in great wars; aid medical research,
gerontolgy, blood banks, youth programs, military rehabilitation;
contribute scholarships and practice character building.
Masons number among them today many outstanding and famous
Brethren in the fields of business, finance, the arts, the
professions, music and high public and military service. They
have included fourteen Presidents and eighteen Vice Presidents of
the United States; a majority of the Justices of the United
States Supreme Court, of the Governors of States, of the members
of the Senate, and a large percentage of the Congressmen. Five
Chief Justices of the United States were Masons and two were
Grand Masters. The five were Oliver Ellsworth, John Marshall
(also Grand Master of Masons in Virginia), William Howard Taft,
Frederick M. Vinson and Earl Warren (also Grand Master of Masons
in California.)
World-famous, active Masons have included Will Rogers, Simon
Bolivar, James Boswell, Robert Burns, Edward the VII, Giuseppe
Garibaldi, George the VI, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Rudyard
Kipling, Franz Joseph Haydn, Lord Kitchener, Louis Dossuth,
Giuseppe Mazzini, Wolfgang Mozart, Jose Rizal, Cecil J. Rhodes,
Sir Walter Scott, Jean Sibelius, Voltaire, and many, many others.
Astronauts have included Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., Leroy Gordon
Cooper, Donn F. Eisele, Virgil I. Grissom, Edgar D. Mitchell,
Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Thomas P. Stafford, Paul J. Weitz and
James B. Irwin.
Masons have had a great interest in maintaining free public
schools. It was our Brother Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York,
a constructive statesman of unusual ability, who was largely
instrumental in establishing the foundation of our free public
school system in America. Masons believe as the twig is bent so
is the tree inclined and that an educated citizenry is vital for
enlightened living. "Knowledge is power."
Most of the eminent Masons of modern times have been honor
men of our Scottish Rite, a worldwide organization of the Masonic
family. The Northern and Southern Scottish Rite Jurisdictions in
America confer the Fourth through the Thirty-third Degrees and
are engaged in many good works including extensive research into
the causes and cure of childhood aphasia, schizophrenia,
contributions in the fields of medical research, endowments and
scholarships, and patriotic, moral and spiritual programs.
Allied organizations include the Knights Templar, the Royal Arch
Masons, the Royal and Select Masters, the Masonic Service
Association, the Masonic Relief Association of the United States,
and the Shrine.
All in all, an inquiry will reveal an image of Masonry as
having a grand design for the betterment, happiness and
enlightenment of mankind. And he who poses these questions and
then petitions and is accepted for membership will be mighty
proud and grateful for a dignified, inspiring and rewarding
experience.
The moment a candidate signs his petition, has been
accepted, and enters a Lodge, he is immediately imbued with an
easy, comfortable feeling in surroundings that are impressive and
fraternal. He will find that within a regular and recognized
Lodge there will be no discussions of partisan politics or
religious dogma, thereby assuring brotherly tranquillity. He is
given a warm welcome that conveys a feeling of being very much
wanted as an active integral part of the group so that he looks
forward to enjoyment of time-tested and intellectual progress.
The successive steps bring new thrills and adventures in a place
where he participates with pleasure in the ritual and procedures.
His days as an Initiate pass quickly toward new friendships,
greetings and welcoming smiles of his Brethren in the Lodge room
and at the banquet table.
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