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-submitted by Annawon Lodge's Historian Brother Bill Barr
THE ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF FREEMASONRY
A great rock immovable
Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. Proverbs 22: 28
You admit that it is not in the power of any man or body of men, to make
innovation in the body of Masonry. The Ancient Charges 11
Every Entered Apprentice declares that he will "cheerfully conform to the
ancient usages and established customs of the Order." Every Fellowcraft is
charged to "preserve our ancient usages and customs sacred and inviolable."
Every Master Mason is further charged: "The ancient landmarks of the Order
you are to preserve sacred and invio lable, and never suffer an infringement
of our customs, or a deviation from established usage." At his
Installation, the Worshipful Master obligates himself that he will not
"permit or suffer any deviation from the established usages, customs and
landmarks."
The duty of every Mason to preserve the Landmarks is clear. But, what are
they? The Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario, following the
precedent set by the United Grand Lodge of England, has neither defined nor
specified them.
Bro. Bernard E. Jones (1880 - 1965) defines the Landmarks in general terms.
The Mason "sees his landmarks as a history or tradition; as a law, a rule,
or a tenet; as a rite or a custom; as a system; as a prerogative or right;
as something (to him) fundamental - each and all of them in existence and
coming down to him from time immemorial." "A landmark can be discovered,
but not created; it cannot be changed or altered; it cannot be imp roved; it
cannot be obliterated."
"The Foundations of Masonic Law are to be found in the Landmarks, or
Unwritten Law, and in the Ancient Constitutions, or the Written Law. The
first requisite, therefore, of a custom or rule of action to constitute it a
Landmark is, that it must have existed from 'time whereof the memory of man
runneth not to the contrary.'" Albert G. Mackey (1807 - 1881) [i] Dr.
Mackey then goes on to identify twenty-five Landmarks of Freemasonry.
Answering the question, 'What constitutes a Masonic Landmark?' Harry Carr
(1900 - 1983), late Past Master and Secretary of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No.
2076, London, specifies two essential points:
1) A Landmark must have existed from the 'time whereof the memory of man
runneth not to the contrary'.
2) A Landmark is an element in the form or essence of the Society of such
importance that Freemasonry would no longer be Freemasonry if it were
re moved.
Bro. Carr concluded: "If these two qualifications are used strictly to test
whether certain practices, systems, principles, or regulations can be
admitted as landmarks it will be found that there are in fact very few
items that will pass this rigid test." [ii]
Among those that seem to pass the test may include:
1. Professed belief in the existence of a Supreme Being;
2. The Volume of the Sacred Law is an essential and indispensable part of
the Lodge, and must be open when the Lodge is at work;
3. A Mason must be a man, free by birth, and of mature age;
4. A Mason owes allegiance to the Sovereign and to the Craft;
5. Professed belief in the immortality of the soul.
Amendments to the Constitution of Grand Lodge and to the By-laws of the
constituent Lodges may be made. The Landmarks (whatever they be) remain
unchanged. The first Constitutions adopted in 1723 gave the 'Power and
Authority to make n ew Regulations or to alter these, for the real Benefit of
this ancient Fraternity; provided always that the old Land Marks be
carefully Preserved.' This was the first use of the term in a Masonic
context.
"To maintain the present standing of our order; to secure its vigorous
existence, and extend its benefits, much depends upon the vigilance with
which we watch over its concerns, and the means employed to preserve its
Ancient Landmarks from innovation, and its principles from corruption."
Robert Macoy (1815 - 1895)
What are the landmarks? It is a question often asked, but never definitively
answered. The subject is capable of infinite debate.
Bernard Jones offers this suggestion: "We know that all thinking freemasons
will want to make their own search for what they will regard as the
landmarks, and that what the Brother finds may not exactly agree with what
another may discover. With respect we offer this tou chston e by which a
Brother may prove his result. Would freemasonry remain essentially the same
for him were his 'landmark' altered or removed? If the answer is Yes then
he will need to continue his search, but, successful or not, we trust he
will find in the search itself its own reward."
FOR DISCUSSION In your opinion, are these 'landmarks'?
1. The equality of all Masons - 'meet on the level';
2. Secrecy - modes of recognition - secret signs, tokens, and words;
3. Three established degrees - EA, FC, and MM;
4. Government of a lodge by the Master and Wardens duly and regularly
elected by the Brethren;
5. Ballot on application
To determine what it is that really comprises Freemasonry and is
indispensable to its existence and prosperity. [iii]
The distinguished English historian, Bro. Robert Freke Gould (1836 - 1915)
concluded: "Nobody knows what they comprise or omit; they are of no earthly < BR>aut hority because everything is a landmark when an opponent desires to
silence you, but nothing is a landmark that stands in his way." [iv]
For further information .
Beyond The Pillars: More Light on Freemasonry. Hamilton: Masonic Holdings,
1973. Chapter 6 - The Landmarks, pp. 57 - 63
Jones, Bernard E. Freemason's Guide and Compendium. Lomndon: George G.
harrap & Company Ltd., revised edition 1956. Chapter Twenty - The
Freemason's Landmarks, pp. 332 - 337.
Coil, Henry Wilson. (Roberts, Allen E., ed.) Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia
Richmond, Virginia: Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Inc., revised
edition 1995. LANDMARKS, pp. 358 - 370.
REFERENCES
[i] Mackey, Albert G. Jurisprudence of Freemasonry: The Written and
Unwritten Laws of Freemasonry. Richmond, Virginia: Macoy Publishing &
Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 14th edition revised Clegg & Blakemore, 1953.
[ii] Carr, Harry. The Freem ason At Work. Runnymede: Lewis Masonic, Ian
Allan Regalia, 7th edition revised Smyth, 1992. p. 251.
[iii] Coil's Masonic Encyclopaedia, revised edition 1995 - Landmarks, p. 370
[iv] quoted in Beyond The Pillars, p. 58
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