/P
Not what is your creed?
But what is your need?
P/

High above all dogmas that divide, all bigotries that blind, all
bitterness that beclouds, will be written the simple words of the one
eternal religion--the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, the
moral law, the golden rule, and the hope of a life everlasting!

FOOTNOTES:

[163] _Symbolism of Freemasonry_, by Dr. Mackey.

[164] _History and Philosophy of Masonry_, by A.C.L. Arnold, chap. xvi.
To say of any man--of Socrates, for example--who had the spirit of
Friendship and Integrity, that he was a Mason, is in a sense true, but
it is misleading. Nevertheless, if a man have not that spirit, he is
not a Mason, though he may have received the thirty-third degree.

[165] Vol. i, p. 320. The _Handbuch_ is an encyclopedia of Masonry,
published in 1900. See admirable review of it, _A. Q. C._, xi, 64.

[166] Much has been written about the secrecy of Masonry. Hutchinson,
in his lecture on "The Secrecy of Masons," lays all the stress upon its
privacy as a shelter for the gentle ministry of Charity (_Spirit of
Masonry_, lecture x). Arnold is more satisfactory in his essay on "The
Philosophy of Mystery," quoting the words of Carlyle in _Sartor
Resartus_: "Bees will not work except in darkness; thoughts will not
work except in silence; neither will virtue work except in secrecy"
(_History and Philosophy of Masonry_, chap. xxi). But neither writer
seems to realize the psychology and pedagogy of secrecy--the value of
curiosity, of wonder and expectation, in the teaching of great truths
deemed commonplace because old. Even in that atmosphere, the real
secret of Masonry remains hidden to many--as sunlight hides the depths
of heaven.

[167] Read the noble chapter on "Prayer as a Masonic Obligation," in
_Practical Masonic Lectures_, by Samuel Lawrence (lecture x).

[168] Read a thoughtful "Exposition of Freemasonry," by Dr. Paul Carus,
_Open Court_, May, 1913.

[169] Proverbs 24:3, 4.

[170] While Masonry abjures political questions and disputes in its
Lodges, it is all the while training good citizens, and through the
quality of its men it influences public life--as Washington, Franklin,
and Marshall carried the spirit of Masonry into the organic law of this
republic. It is not politics that corrupts character; it is bad
character that corrupts politics--and by building men up to spiritual
faith and character, Masonry is helping to build up a state that will