The Builders

The Builders, by Joseph Fort Newton

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Title: The Builders A Story and Study of Masonry
Author: Joseph Fort Newton
Release Date: August 15, 2006 [EBook #19049]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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/$ +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's Note: | | | | Inconsistent hyphenation matches the original document. | | | | A number of obvious typographical errors have been corrected | | in this text. For a complete list, please see the bottom of | | this document. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ $/
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/$ THE BUILDERS
A STORY AND STUDY OF MASONRY
BY JOSEPH FORT NEWTON, LITT. D. GRAND LODGE OF IOWA
When I was a King and a Mason-- A master proved and skilled, I cleared me ground for a palace Such as a King should build. I decreed and cut down to my levels, Presently, under the silt, I came on the wreck of a palace Such as a King had built! --KIPLING
CEDAR RAPIDS IOWA THE TORCH PRESS NINETEEN FIFTEEN $/

/$ COPYRIGHT, 1914 BY JOSEPH FORT NEWTON
First Printing, December, 1914 $/

/$ To The Memory of THEODORE SUTTON PARVIN Founder of the Library of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, with Reverence and Gratitude; to LOUIS BLOCK Past Grand Master of Masons in Iowa, dear Friend and Fellow-worker, who initiated and inspired this study, with Love and Goodwill; and to the YOUNG MASONS Our Hope and Pride, for whom this book was written With Fraternal Greeting $/

THE ANTEROOM
Fourteen years ago the writer of this volume entered the temple of Freemasonry, and that date stands out in memory as one of the most significant days in his life. There was a little spread on the night of his raising, and, as is the custom, the candidate was asked to give his impressions of the Order. Among other things, he made request to know if there was any little book which would tell a young man the things he would most like to know about Masonry--what it was, whence it came, what it teaches, and what it is trying to do in the world? No one knew of such a book at that time, nor has any been found to meet a need which many must have felt before and since. By an odd coincidence, it has fallen to the lot of the author to write the little book for which he made request fourteen years ago.
This bit of reminiscence explains the purpose of the present volume, and every book must be judged by its spirit and purpose, not less than by its style and contents. Written as a commission from the Grand Lodge of Iowa, and approved by that Grand body, a copy of this book is to be presented to every man upon whom the degree of Master Mason is conferred within this Grand Jurisdiction. Naturally this intention has determined the method and arrangement of the book, as well as the matter it contains; its aim being to tell a young man entering the order the antecedents of Masonry, its development, its philosophy, its mission, and its ideal. Keeping this purpose always in mind, the effort has been to prepare a brief, simple, and vivid account of the origin, growth, and teaching of the Order, so written as to provoke a deeper interest in and a more earnest study of its story and its service to mankind.
No work of this kind has been undertaken, so far as is known, by any Grand Lodge in this country or abroad--at least, not since the old Pocket Companion, and other such works in the earlier times; and this is the more strange from the fact that the need of it is so obvious, and its possibilities so fruitful and important. Every one who has looked into the vast literature of Masonry must often have felt the need of a concise, compact, yet comprehensive survey to clear the path and light the way. Especially must those feel such a need who are not accustomed to traverse long and involved periods of history, and more especially those who have neither the time nor the opportunity to sift ponderous volumes to find out the facts. Much of our literature--indeed, by far the larger part of it--was written before the methods of scientific study had arrived, and while it fascinates, it does not convince those who are used to the more critical habits