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

communions, from Bishop Potter to Robert Collyer; statesmen,
philanthropists, educators, jurists, men of science--Masons many,[162]
whose names shine like stars in the great world's crown of
intellectual and spiritual glory. What other order has ever brought
together men of such diverse type, temper, training, interest, and
achievement, uniting them at an altar of prayer in the worship of God
and the service of man?
For the rest, if by some art one could trace those invisible
influences which move to and fro like shuttles in a loom, weaving the
network of laws, reverences, sanctities which make the warp and woof
of society--giving to statutes their dignity and power, to the gospel
its opportunity, to the home its canopy of peace and beauty, to the
young an enshrinement of inspiration, and to the old a mantle of
protection; if one had such art, then he might tell the true story of
Masonry. Older than any living religion, the most widespread of all
orders of men, it toils for liberty, friendship, and righteousness;
binding men with solemn vows to the right, uniting them upon the only
basis upon which they can meet without reproach--like those fibers
running through the glaciers, along which sunbeams journey, melting
the frozen mass and sending it to the valleys below in streams of
blessing. Other fibers are there, but none is more far-ramifying, none
more tender, none more responsive to the Light than the mystical tie
of Masonic love.
Truth will triumph. Justice will yet reign from sun to sun, victorious
over cruelty and evil. Finally Love will rule the race, casting out
fear, hatred, and all unkindness, and pity will heal the old hurt and
heart-ache of humanity. There is nothing in history, dark as much of
it is, against the ultimate fulfilment of the prophetic vision of
Robert Burns--the Poet Laureate of Masonry:
/P
Then let us pray, that come it may--
As come it will, for a' that--
. . . . . . . .
That man to man, the world o'er
Shall brothers be, for a' that.
P/
FOOTNOTES:
[133] Operative Masonry, it should be remembered, was not entirely
dead, nor did it all at once disappear. Indeed, it still exists in some
form, and an interesting account of its forms, degrees, symbols,
usages, and traditions may be found in an article on "Operative
Masonry," by C.E. Stretton (_Transactions Leicester Lodge of Research_,
1909-10, 1911-12). The second of these volumes also contains an essay
on "Operative Free-masons," by Thomas Carr, with a list of lodges, and
a study of their history, customs, and emblems--especially the
Swastika. Speculative Masons are now said to be joining these Operative
Lodges, seeking more light on what are called the Lost Symbols of
Masonry.
[134] The Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland, it may be added, were
self-constituted, without assistance or intervention from England in
any form.