The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

Chapter 10 - Conclusion 843
Ohio takes the bantling under its own motherly wing, to nurse it to
maturity, and adopt it as one of the family! 2066
When the Mark Degree was invented, there was a long and heated debate
whether and how it should be added to the existing Degrees, and time passed
before finally, in 1856, the Joint Committee set up by the United Grand Lodge
and Supreme Grand Chapter of England were unanimously of the opinion that
"the Mark Masons' Degree, so called, does not form part of the Royal Arch
Degree, and though not essential to be given in Craft Lodges, there is nothing
objectionable in it, nor anything that militates against the universality of
Freemasonry; and it might be considered a graceful addition to the Fellow
Craft's Degree." 2067
There have been countless "graceful additions" until today. Among them are
the higher degrees, which Robert Freke Gould ridicules in his essay "The
Degrees of Pure and Ancient Freemasonry", published by Ars Quator
Coronatorum in 1903. Gould relates an anecdote which occurs to his mind:
Some [...] may have seen, and all will have read of, the guest chambers
in many an ancient castle, where, as a common feature, will be found a
bed surmounted by a great dusty canopy, which as often as not is domed
and adorned with plumes. Such a canopy as this, it was, that the
Highland laird mistook for the bed itself, and mounted at the top of,
while he put his servant in the sheets, thinking that the loftier stratum
was the place of grandeur.
For my own part, I am quite content to lie in the bed of Ancient Craft
Masonry, and to let those that like climb into the canopy. 2068
With this beautiful metaphor, Gould expresses the feelings of many serious
brethren that the "loftier stratum" is just a place for degree hunters and is less
convenient and useful than the "bed of Ancient Craft Masonry," that is the three
Blue Lodge Degrees. The feeling of grandeur might be a mistake, and Gould has
left it to others to climb the degree ladder. The High Degrees are likewise
accused vividly by W. Brother Robert P. McColloch in his oration before the M.
W. Grand Lodge of Kansas in 1926. For him, there exists but "one Masonry"
consisting of the three basic degrees; the higher degrees do not contain Masonic
philosophy at all but the mere dramatic staging of historical scenes:
[...] we shall come to know a thing that some Masons appear to have
forgotten: There is but one Freemasonry, it consists of three degrees,
and is Symbolic Freemasonry.
This being so, it should be constantly held in mind and always
strongly affirmed. The whole subject of symbols and allegories belongs,
2066 Moore, Masonic Review, N° 33, 1868, Letter to the editor by P. of R.S., p. 179.
2067 Grantham, p. 41/42; bold print added.
2068 Gould, Collected Essays & Papers relating to Freemasonry, p. 234.