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Address on Freemasonry'' Delivered Before the Grand
Lodge of Oregon by Grand Orator, H. W. Scott
AX ADDRESS on "Freemasonry,"
with especial reference to Masonic
symbolism, was delivered last
Thursday before the 5Sth annual session
f the Grand Lodge of Oregon, Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons, by H. W.
ficott, grand orator. Mr. Scott's remarks
were as follows:
Having the honor to be the orator, and It
devolving on me to make the address, at
this time, t desire to present a statement of
jny view or Interpretation of the spirit, the
method and thd purpose of Freemasonry, aa
manifested through Ua ymbolic forms. I
annot so Into detail. The subject, as
very Mason knows. Is too vast. But I
wish to Klve an account. In some sort, of
the ethical spirit of Freemasonry, and of
my own conception of the methods of ope
ration H employs. I trust I shall not be
tedious; I know I shall not detain you
long.
Man thinks; therefore, he is. Thought
lives chiefly In symbols; exerts Itself mainly
through symbols; propagates Itself through
metaphors, resemblances and similitudes;
for even pure science must depend on ob
jects cleat to the outward senses, through
which It finds representation. Man's images
of the Deity, sometimes grotesque, some
times the product of his most refined art,
are not unnatural, though all subject to
change, for man himself is changeful, and
the products of his mood in one age can
not fit those of another. In a high sense
Masonry is symbolical. It refers chiefly to
the duties and obligations of men; and these
belong both to their Individual and social
natures. Masonry thus Is a great moral
force, working through methods it has
elaborated during a very long period. In
using metaphors and symbols it conforms
to the nature of man. for man himself
Ik a symbol and metaphor seme part, we
may believe, of the expression of the Divine
mind.
It is not the purpose to exalt mysticism,
which expresses Itself through symbols, but
to ufe it. It Is vain, to argue that It is
purely subjective and does not belong to
the realm of reality; for though the ob
jection may be true, it does not alter the
fact, even If it does not heighten Its value.
These states of being, subjective and ob
jective, shade off and pass into each other.
In passages of Isaiah there may not be
literal fact. But let one read a chapter
of Isaiah whatever opinion he may have
of It from a purely Intellectual point of
view, he cannot fail, if he have any har
mony of aoui In him, to be stirred to higher
emotional tone by its lofty strain of feeling
and grandeur of conception. Besides,, all
things are merely symbolic. Berkeley re
plied to Hal ley. who bantered him upon
his idealism, that a mathematician is also
an Idealist, his ultima ratio being In re
ality only the ghosts of departed or missing
quantities, appearing when the terms that
had produced them had vanished. Thus
may Masonry answer the charge that its
symbolism is nothing.
Man has two sets of duties, one of them
pertaining to himself, the other to the
eocial order to w-hlch he belongs. The
former are the behests of self-love or
egoism; the latter of regard for ne'e fel
lows, or altruism. These two sets of pre
cepts are equally just, equally natural and
equally Indispensable. But it never is an
easy matter to maintain right bnlance be
tween them: for unless men have a care
the selfish side will too much outweigh the
other. The best work o' Masonry, as a
moral force, is done. then, on its social
side. It teaches duty to others, and brings
reward therefor through reflex acton on the
Individual spirit.
Man, both by nature and by the circum
stances in which he Is placed, finds it
difficult to contemplate abstract, ideal
truth, and when It eludes his Imperfect
vision he charges the difficulty upon the
truth and not upon himself. But for all
this the ideal Is real, and man is capable
of this abstract vision. Upon his ability
to free himself from the disturbing in
fluence of external sense, to be independent
in some sort of the physical or external senses
In the investigation of the phenomena and
feelings of his own inward nature depends
much of hie true knowledge of himself. The
work of this confraternity may give real
help herein through the solemnities of its
large and various ceremonial. All human
duties are correlated .under a mysterious
universal moral law. That which makes
Burke one of the few great names in higher
political science Is the solemn and awful
view he had of moral law as strictly super
natural in Its essence; of this universal
law, in his own language, "as prior to all
our devices, and prior to all our contriv
ances, paramount to all our ideas and all
our sensations, antecedent to our very ex
istence, by which we are knit and connected
in the universal frame of the universe, out
of which we cannot stir. Thus, the sanc
tions, the sacredness, the authority, the
binding power of moral law, as the founda
tions of government and of political and
social science, for which Burke pleaded so
eloquently, come from a world outside us
and beyond us; exerting itself through man
as the one moral creature of the universe.
Recognition of this great truth runs through
all the work of our order.
Masonry, using these lessons, thus is of
excellent use in keeping up the connection
of the past with the present and carrying
it on to the future. I am not speaking Just
how of any formulary of Masonry, but of
its spirit. There Is a steadiness in Its
teaching and purpose that is making a hold
ing ground for humanity. The union of
reverence, of moderation and of enthusiasm
we And in It together with the seriousness
and sense of solemnity it Inculcates, sup
plies a steady force that the world needs.
History records the rise and great popu
larity, for a. while, of many a theory or
supposed philosophy which succeeding ages
have consigned to oblivion, and whl.-h has
extended no permanent Influence on 4iuman
progress. There always are. among opin
ions and theories prevalent In any particular
period, some, and perhaps many, that have
not truth enough in them to preserve
them. And yet these may be the very ones.
mi seize upon ine inniviaual and local
mind with most violence and most im
mediate effect. No so with Masonry, but
the reverse. The reason is that its work
Is founded In principles that are permanent
as human nature. It has the historic
spirit, and uses it.
The guilds upon which It wag founded no
longer exist. They belong to the dark
backward and the abySm of time. The work
passing from operative to speculative Ma
sonry, takes Its color and cast from . the
union that took place from the contact
of the returning crusaders with the Knights
of the various orders. The legend of Sol
omon's Temple thus became, the basis of
a large part of the ritualistic or ceremonial
work. In the various branches of Masonry
other legends and ceremonies from Hebrew
sources were added. Freemasonry, how
ever, is derived from many sources. Con
sidering that it is a tree, the roots of
which have spread through many soils, it
follows that traces thereof must be found
In its fruit; that Its language and ritual
must retain much of the various ideas and
institutions it has passed through before
arriving at their present state, which even
yet is not fixed nor ever can be; and herein,
moreover, we see why It is that in Masonry
we meet with Indian, Egyptian, Jewish
and Christian Ideas, terms and symbols.
The mysteries of life, as well as its duties
and obligations, are sources of the streams
that supply the philosophy which lies be
hind this ceaseless effort that manifests
itself through the work of Masonry, through
its ceremonies and rituals, through formu
laries which, like all other formularies, are
nothing in themselves, but point to things
more real, yet but dimly discerned, further
and further on. It is only as man is
awakened to consciousness of himself, by
perception of outward objects, that he be
gins to know or to try to know where and
what he la He knows the outward world
as distinct from himself, and at the same
time as related to and acting on himself.
He thus becomes conscious of himself as a
center to the universe about him. It en
compasses him and frcm every eide exerts
its energies upon him, while he at the
center reacts in every direction on it. ap
prehends it in intelligence, illuminates it
with science and effects changes in it, Man
knows himself only as in the midst Of the
universal system, himself and i - In reci
procal action and reaction. Science as
knowledge is subjective within the mind of
man; and as knowledge it is equally the
Knowledge of the universft as objective
reality The knowledge of both is glveu
in the same act; yet it Is but the dimmest
knowledge, which, however, awakens the
Imagination, that after all opens the door
to surest realities. The work of Masonry
thus becomes a part of the revelation of
man to himself: but the things that are
not within himself he never will find in
this or In any other revelation. The deepest
truth to one who cannot find within hlmseif
any response to it. is -nothing hut trite,
sterile and empty sophistry.
In this position, between two worlds,
correlated yet but little intelligible to him,
man cannot account for things, yet never
theless is continually trying to do so. Ideas
and Images are suggested to him; he tries
to embody their spirit in words, but every
effort is but tentative and at the end of
every excursion he falls back in almost to
tal defeat, finding how much the unknown
exceeds that which he knows. Our life
Itself touches Only the edges of the ocean
of existence, where for a moment it comes
on soundings. As Dr. Holmes puts It In the
Autocrat, we are entangled for the present
In some particles of fibrine. albumen and
phosphates that keep uj for the while on
the minority side of the house, that is.
among the living; but who knows, asked
Euripides, long ago, whether to live Is not
death, or to die Is not to live?
The work of speculative Masonry, in my
conception of it, Is one part or phase of the
effort of man to account for things, of
which the problem of his own existence Is
deepest of all. Man does not make tht
mysteries. He is the mystery of mysteries
himself. Yet so slender is hH hold on that
of which he nevertheless Is so sure, that
In his struggles to find himself ho can use.
only forms and symbols. A legend is made
the basis of the work of this order. Won
der not at this, for every structure must
have a scaffolding for the builders.
It cannot be proved, yet It cannot ra
tionally be denied, that the guild of work
men, of whose association In the olden time
the speculative Masonry of modern times Is
a continuance, or outgrowth, or revival, had
an antiquity very high. AH students of an
tiquity know that there Is truth or fact
at the base of every legend. There is often,
usually. Indeed, much change, much am
plification. In the progress of story or le
gend; and the inger ulty of the men of our
order, supported, doubtless, at different
periods by the spirit of mysticism, and
even by credulity, bus supplied new ana
logies for the elaboration of various parts
of the work. Naturally it is penetrated
through and through by the traditional or
supposed spirit of Its t-rlgln. Hence the
general presence of scriptural nomenclature
in the catechism, the rituals and general
service. All set-ious and solemn work pre
serves Its Impr'easlveness In similar way.
Mythical tradition is surer foundation for
effort that must depend much on the Im
agination for nourishment than any array
of positive facts could be. Yet operative
Masonry was an historical fact, aa the out
growth from It, or merging Into it, of specu
lative Masonry Is surely attested. It is not
necessary to maintain that there is his
torical evidence which carries the Institu
tion back to Solomon's Temple, cr to the
Pagan mysteries. It is cr.cvgh that this
society ha' made use of and wrought into
Its structure the materials that could r.erve
Its purpose. Invention ar.d imagination,
not running riot, but governed by a sense
of fitness and supported by legend handed
down from one generation to another, have
selected, adapted and purified the materials.
Yet the whole is in the spirit of man;
and since there is difference of National
characteristics, the expression varies in dif
ferent countries, and undergoes some
changes, as every Mason may observe, even
in our own.
All the efforts of man lie within nature,
and nature always points to something
beyond Itself, backward to a cause, above
to a law. There are no final causes, ex
cept possibly in the spiritual sphere. Yet
the spiritual system and the physical and
of both these man has a share are not in
antagonism, nor existing apart, but are In
Intimate Interaction and close correspond
ence. Where shall we find the principle
Which includes the whole spirit of society?
In the arts, the literature, the philosophical
systems, the civil institutions? Not wholly
so; for In every people there Is an element
more profound than all these combined,
more Intimate, more inseparable from the
Idea of life. We are all the time trying to
find expression for It and expression of It
Masonry lives because In its own way it
contributes Its share.
We infer infinite space from the finite
bodies that occupy space. Man's knowl
edge of his own dependence and finite-
ness carries with It the idea of the infinite
and absolute. His conscience is the reflex
of the eternal law and of the moral con
stitution of the universe. Upon the truth
herein Free Masonry bases its existence,
both as a speculative code ar.d moral sys
tem. The legend of the craft isn't much in
Itself, but it Is the seed of much, for the
growth of spirit. Symbols and even enig
matical ' fox ms have ever been employed to
carry truths; and the nature of ir.an is such
that It must be so. No form or rite of re
ligion Is cultivated for Itself. No creed
exists for itself, but everyone that has
vitality exists because its use Is of servlre
to man. These things arc helps, not ends
So with Free Masonry. To elevate the soul
and purify the spirit In the purpose ani
end sought through the use of all forms.
This should be sufficient answer to the
criticism that the work of the lodge re
solves Itself in the analysis to the re
hearsal of useless and pointless ritual. It
is even asserted that since the ot.jecls Ma
sons profess .to pursue are brotherly love,
relief and truth, the pursuit of these ob
jects cannot need any secret rites, tradi-
I tions and ceremonies. Yet all who are Im
bued with the Masonic spirit realises that
forms, symbols, figures. Images, solemn i ties,
are media through which all serious and
earnest work must be done. Association,
moreover, is indispensable to human en
deavor, and on of the chief ends of Ma
sonry is to make a sure bond among' men.
No Mason can disregard his obligations to
a brother, and the lessens of the craft teach
benevolence and Justice towards all men.
Masons are to do right, not only by each
other, but towards all with whom thry
come In contact. Proof that this order
serves a permanent need of the human
spirit Is supplied by the continued vigor of
its growth. Mere toys or shows, or forms,
will not please men from youtth to ace.
Masonry, then, is vindicated by proofs and
results. The animating principle of the
order stands as an outgrowth of the pur
poses of our inward. Individual and sot-lal
being, and as an Inspiration to life and
action. It vindicates Its ptaee in the work
of the world.
A racehorse galloping at full speed clears
from 20 feet to 24 fet vcry stride.
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