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THE MASONIC [ lU / STRMED

The Landmarks Of The Order.

The Landmarks of the Order .

WHILST probably every Freemason has heard the landmarks referred to , and knows that in some way or another the Craft is circumscribed and dominated by them , the number of those who know what they are and what they mean , is probably more limited . The expression

is first found in the general Regulations of 1721 , No . 39 , and it appears again in Anderson ' s Constitutions of 1723 , and is repeated in those of 173 8 . Since that date we understand by the landmarks , those boundaries and definitions of the Craft which , having been accepted by Masons in all ages , are considered to be beyond the pale of legislation . Thus the Book of Constitutions makes no attempt to define them or

The Landmarks Of The Order.

even to say what they are . There can be , of course , no limit to their number . If any practice can be proved to have been generally accepted from time immemorial and to have been adopted for a period " whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary , " that practice becomes ipso far lo a landmark . Anything , therefore , that transgresses these boundaries

ceases by that fact to be Masonic . Inasmuch as we do not possess any charter or system of constitution , which , like the Mosaic law , is accepted as being beyond appeal , and not subject to any varying human interpretationswe are referred to our own history , and have

, to select those regulations which have been agreed upon by the great majority , past and present . Such , for instance , would be the belief in a Great Architect of the Universe , the modes of recognition , the necessity for government , the secrecy of the Order . These are points as to which there

has never been any doubt , and transgression has been promptly followed by excommunication . The list usually referred to is that given in Mackey's Cyclopaedia , and he distributes them under twenty-five heads . Some of these are , however , open to discussion , those for instance which describe the prerogatives of the Grand Master .

Certain officers are mentioned as being in themselves landmarks , these being the Grand Master , the Master and Wardens , and the Tyler . These are undoubtedly universally accepted , and are , therefore , landmarks . He adds the doctrine of the immortality of the soul . Now it is open to doubt whether this doctrine can be so regarded . And the

admission of Sikhs , Buddhists , Muhammadans , Hindus , and others of various religions , adds to our doubt on this subject . True , the doctrine appears to dominate our ritual , but the ritual is not a landmark . The only essential parts of the ritual are the S . O ., and the communication of the modes of

recognition . Bro . Horsley read a paper on this subject to Lodge Quatuor Coronati some five years ago , but he makes the mistake of quoting the ritual in support of his contention that such belief was a landmark . Again , Mackey says the division of Masonry into three Degrees is a landmark . First of all

we need to know what a Degree really is . If it means the communication of a fresh stock of secrets and modes of communication , then Craft Masonry recognizes live , the three usual Degrees , the Royal Arch , and the Master . But the Constitutions make the R . A . a part of the third Degree , and

inferentially the Master also . There has been interesting discussion of late years whether or not there are only two Degrees , the fellow Craft being but an interlude . Be this as it may , it cannot be doubted that the rapidity with which the Master Mason ' s degree is attained in these days , deprives the first and second of much of their importance .

We have spoken of the inclusion of the Grand Master's prerogative as being open to doubt . The right of access to the Grand Master possessed by every individual brother is an undoubted landmark , though not included in any list we have seen , but in this respect the Grand Master is now protected by a rule of the Constitutions , which states that he

shall not be applied to on any business concerning Masons except through the Grand Secretary . Doubtless this makes for the general convenience , but seeing that the Board of General Purposes , the Grand Registrar , and other advisers are not landmarks , whilst the Grand Master is , it is well that

there should be some knowledge of what the prerogative is , or , equally useful , what it is not . ; It has been , in days gone by , a useful way of getting out of an impasse , or of meeting some difficulty not provided for in the Constitutions , to assert the prerogative , just as' in

political history the Royal Warrant has been found similarly useful . It is not even suggested that the Craft has suffered , but it is not inconceivable that occasion might arise when the Craft needed to be protected against exercise of the unlimited . \

For information , Mackey ' s references to the Grand Master might be quoted , they provide for his election by the brethren , and , inferentially , by their delegates . He may preside over all meetings of the Craft . This is , of course , involved in his very designation , but his powers are in many instances limited by the Constitutions . For instance , he