THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

e collected and collated, a number having already been burned by
scrupulous Masons to prevent their falling into strange hands. In
1721, Grand Master Montagu found fault with the _Old Charges_ as being
inadequate, and ordered Dr. Anderson to make a digest of them with a
view to formulating a better set of regulations for the rule of the
Lodges. Anderson obeyed--he seems to have been engaged in such a work
already, and may have suggested the idea to the Grand Master--and a
committee of fourteen "learned brethren" was appointed to examine the
MS and make report. They suggested a few amendments, and the book was
ordered published by the Grand Master, appearing in the latter part of
1723. This first issue, however, did not contain the account of the
organization of the Grand Lodge, which does not seem to have been
added until the edition of 1738. How much Past Grand Master Payne had
to do with this work is not certain, but the chief credit is due to
Dr. Anderson, who deserves the perpetual gratitude of the order--the
more so if he it was who wrote the article, already quoted, setting
forth the religious attitude of the order. That article, by whomsoever
written, is one of the great documents of mankind, and it would be an
added joy to know that it was penned by a minister.[122] The _Book of
Constitutions_, which is still the groundwork of Masonry, has been
printed in many editions, and is accessible to every one.
Another event in the story of the Grand Lodge, never to be forgotten,
was a plan started in 1724 of raising funds of General Charity for
distressed Masons. Proposed by the Earl of Dalkeith, it at once met
with enthusiastic support, and it is a curious coincidence that one of
the first to petition for relief was Anthony Sayer, first Grand
Master. The minutes do not state whether he was relieved at that time,
but we know that sums of money were voted to him in 1730, and again in
1741. This Board of Benevolence, as it came to be called, became very
important, it being unanimously agreed in 1733 that all such business
as could not be conveniently despatched by the Quarterly Communication
should be referred to it. Also, that all Masters of Regular Lodges,
together with all present, former, and future Grand Officers should be
members of the Board. Later this Board was still further empowered to
hear complaints and to report thereon to the Grand Lodge. Let it also
be noted that in actual practice the Board of Charity gave free play
to one of the most admirable principles of Masonry--helping the needy
and unfortunate, whether within the order or without.
III
Once more we come to a much debated question, about which not a little
has been written, and most of it wide of the mark--the question of the
origin of the Third Degree. Here again students have gone hither and
yon hunting in every cranny for the motif of this degree, and it would
seem that their failure to find it would by this time have turned them
back to the only place where they may ever hope to discover it--in
Masonry itself. But no; they are bound to bring mystics, occultists,
alchemists, Culdees or Cabalists--even the _Vehmgerichte_ of
Germany--into the making of Masonry somewhere, if only for the sake of
glamor, and this is the last opportunity to do it.[123] Willing to
give due credit to Cabalists and Rosicrucians, the present writer
rejects all such theories on the ground that there is no reason for
thinking that they helped to make Masonry, _much less any fact to
prove it_.