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On Mackey's 25 Landmarks ... what's so ancient?
by David L. Gray {CRM2}
It
should be clearly understood by all Prince Hall Masons that Dr. Albert
G. Mackey�s (1807-1881) list of Twenty Five Masonic Landmarks are
neither wholly ancient nor universally followed � neither are they
cast from antiquity, but rather the sole creation of one man whose
opinion of Prince Hall Freemasonry, left much to be desired.
Knowing this, one Prince Hall Mason is left to wonder why the majority
of Prince Hall Grand Lodges are one of the few sets of Masonic Grand
Lodges in the world that have went so far to adopt Mackey�s imaginary
list of Ancient Masonic Landmarks? Let�s Review -
Prior to 1717, and before the first Grand Lodge was established, there
was no mention to any such thing called a �Land-Mark�. In England,
Lodges were self governing and working under the Gothic Constitutions
(often called the York Constitutions among several other names), and
some segments of the order also adhered to the principles of Trinitarian
Christianity.
Post 1717, and through the 18th Century the word �Land-Mark� could
be found loosely used on several occasions and seemingly to denote some
sort of unwritten code of government for Lodges and Grand Lodges, that
in turn worked in hand with the Ancient Charges set forth in the Gothic
Constitutions.
During the 19th Century, both Dr. George Oliver and William Preston made
enough vague and ambiguous references to a seemingly set of
un-communicable �Land-Marks�. The result of which, would lure
American Freemasons into what would turn out to be the unofficially
infamous �Search for the Lost Masonic Land-Marks.� They would never
find them, but thanks to Albert G. Mackey and notable others � They
would find the substitute.
On January 9, 1856, the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, which was only three
years old at that time, adopted a new constitution, of which Section 8
contained a list of 26 �Land-Marks�. The name of the author, intent
and source are unknown.
�The following are enumerated as among the Ancient Constitutions,
having the force of Ancient Landmarks of the Fraternity, having as such
been generally Received and acknowledged by Masons.
�1. That belief in the Supreme Being, �The Great Architect of the
Universe,� who will punish vice and reward virtue, is an indispensable
prerequisite to admission to Masonry.
�2. That the moral law which inculcates charity and probity, industry
and sobriety, and obedience to law and civil government, is the rule and
guide of every Mason, and to which strict conformity is required.
�3. That obedience to the Masonic law and authority being voluntarily
assumed, is of perpetual obligation.
�4. That the rites and ceremonies (which include the unwritten
language) of the true system of the Ancient York Rite, and which
constitute a part of the body of Masonry, are immutable, and that it is
not in the power of any man or body of men to make innovations therein.
�5. The contentions and lawsuits between brethren are contrary to the
laws and regulations of Masonry.
�6. That charity is the right of a Mason, his widow and orphans, when
poor and destitute, to demand, and the duty of his prosperous brother to
bestow.
�7. That Masonic instruction is like charity, a reciprocal right and
duty of Masons.
�8. That the right to visit Masonically is an absolute right, and the
duty of Masons.
�9. That men made Masons, must be of mature age, free-born, of good
report, hale and sound, not deformed or dismembered, and no eunuch.
�10. That the Grand Master may make Masons at sight, and may grant a
dispensation to a Lodge for the same purpose, but in all other cases a
candidate must be proposed in open Lodge, at a stated meeting, and can
only be accepted at the stated meeting following, by the scrutiny of
secret ballot, and an unanimous vote, and must pay a fixed price before
admission.
�11. It is the duty of every Mason to be a contributing member to some
Lodge.
�12. That a Mason who is not a member of any Lodge is still subject to
the disciplinary power of Masonry.
�13. That the Master and Wardens of every Warranted Lodge, are of
right and inalienable representatives in, and members of, the Grand
Lodge.
�14. That no one can be elected Master of a Warranted Lodge (except at
its first election), but a Master Mason who shall have served as a
Warden.
�15. That every Mason must be tried by his peers, hence the Master
cannot be tried by his Lodge.
�16. That no appeal to the Lodge be taken from the decision of the
Master, or the Wardens occupying the chair in his absence.
�17. That Masonic intercourse with a clandestine or expelled Mason, is
a breach of duty and an offense against Masonic law.
�18. That a restoration to the privileges of Masonry by the Grand
Lodge does not restore the membership in the Subordinate Lodge
�19. That a failure to meet by a Lodge for one year, is cause for
forfeiture of its Warrant.
�20. That it is the duty as well as the right of every Warranted Lodge
to be represented in Grand Lodge at its Communications.
�21. That a Grand Lodge has supreme and exclusive jurisdiction within
its territorial limits, over all maters of Ancient Craft Masonry.
�22. That no appeal lies from the decision of the Grand Master in the
chair, or his deputy, or Warden, occupying the chair in his absence.
�23. That the office of Grand Master is always elective and should be
filled annually by the Grand Lodge.
�24. That a Grand Lodge composed of it Officers and Representatives,
must meet at least once in every year, to consult and act concerning the
interest of the Fraternity in its jurisdiction.
�25. That all officers of Grand or Subordinate Lodges must be Master
Masons.
�26. That no subjects of sectarian or political character can be
discussed in a Lodge, and any Mason proposing such a interest, renders
himself liable to the disciplinary action of the Lodge.
Then in June of 1856, Rob Morris of Kentucky published his Code of
Masonic Law in which he included the following shorter list of the 17
�Land-Marks�.
�1. The Masonic Landmarks are unchangeable and imperative.
�2. Masonry is a system, teaching symbolically: Piety, Morality,
Charity and Self-Discipline.
�3. The Law of God is the rule and limit of Masonry.
�4. The Civil Law, so far as it accords with the Divine, is obligatory
upon Masons.
�5. The Masonic Lodge and the Masonic Institutions are one and
indivisible.
�6. Masonic Qualification regards the Mental Moral and Physical nature
of Man.
�7. Personal worth and merit are the basis of official worth and
merit.
�8. The official duties of Masonry are esoteric.
�9. The selection of Masonry material and the general labors of the
Masonic Craft are exoteric.
�10. The honors of Masonry are the gratitude of the Craft and the
approval of God.
�11. Masonic promotion, both private and official, is by grades.
�12. The Grand Master may have a Deputy.
�13. The head of the Lodge is the Master, duly elected by the Craft.
�14. The medium of communication between the head of the body of the
Lodge is the Warden, duly elected by the Craft.
�15. Obedience to the Master and Wardens is obligatory upon the
members.
�16. Secrecy is an indispensable element of Masonry.
�17. The Grand Lodge is supreme in it�s sphere of jurisdiction and
individual Masons, but is always subject to the Ancient Landmarks.
Although these two publications were on the record and know throughout
the Masonic community in the United States, Albert G. Mackey would write
as late as 1874 in his �Encyclopedia of Freemasonry�, �Until the
year 1858, no attempt had been made by any Masonry writer distinctly to
enumerate the landmarks of Freemasonry and to give them a comprehensive
form �.� This same amazing statement would appear in later revised
editions of that same encyclopedia.
Mackey�s list composed of twenty five items and are so listed:
�1. The Modes of Recognition.
�2. The Division of Symbolic Masonry into Three Degrees.
�3. The Legend of the Third Degree.
�4. The Government of the Fraternity by a Grand Master.
�5. The Prerogative of the Grand Master to preside over every Assembly
of the Craft.
�6. The Prerogative of the Grand Master to grant Dispensations for
Conferring Degrees at Irregular Times.
�7. The Prerogative of the Grand Master to grant Dispensations for
Opening and Holding Lodges.
�8. The Prerogative of the Grand Master to Make Masons at Sight.
�9. The necessity for Masons to congregate in Lodges.
�10. The Government of the Graft by a Master and two Wardens.
�11. The necessity for every Lodge to be Tiled.
�12. The right of every Mason to be represented in all General
Assemblies of the Craft.
�13. The Right of every Mason to appeal from the decision of his Lodge
to the Grand Lodge.
�14. The Right of every Mason to visit and sit in every regular Lodge.
�15. No Visitor may enter the Lodge without passing an Examination.
�16. No Lodge can interfere in the business of another Lodge.
�17. Every Freemason is amenable to the Law of the Jurisdiction where
he resides.
�18. The Qualifications of a Candidate for Initiation are that he must
be a man, un-mutilated, free born and of mature age.
�19. A Mason must believe in God as the Grand Architect of the
Universe.
�20. A Mason must believe in a Resurrection to a Future Life.
�21. The Book of the Law shall constitute an indispensable part of the
Furniture of the Lodge.
�22. The Equality of all Masons.
�23. Secrecy.
�24. The Foundation of a Speculative Science upon an Operative Art.
�25. These landmarks are unchangeable, nothing can be subtracted from,
and nothing can be added to them.
It would seem that Mackey, if he were really aware of the 1856
�Land-Marks�, established by the Grand Lodge of Minnesota and Rob
Morris, that he may have borrowed a bit from them, but there is no
definitive proof that he did borrow.
It was well within Albert G. Mackey�s rights, as well as any other
person or body of Freemasons to generate a set of �Land-Marks�. The
confusion and problem of these �Land-Marks� centers around the word
�Ancient� that has been associated with them. How Ancient? The
assumption by most is that the word �Ancient� implies something that
is as old as time immemorial or at least prior 1717. A more appropriate
word instead of �Ancient� would be �Accepted�, because that�s
all they are.
We�ve already summarized how prior to the formation of the first Grand
Lodge in England that there was no such thing as �Land-Marks�, and
these enumerated list were American Masonic innovations. Now, let�s go
further and note how the word �Ancient� in regards to Mackey�s
�Land-Marks� conflicts with our Fraternity, and we�ll just take a
look at a selection of the �Land-Marks� for the sake of space in
this publication.
LAND-MARK #1 � Modes of Recognition:
Mackey calls it �the most legitimate and unquestioned�, and �They
admit of no variation�, but as we should know, the Modes of
Recognition are not the same around the world. Our signs, grips and
words are not Universally uniform in Freemasonry, and still by the use
of the word �ancient� his position is that these same signs, grips
and words were in use prior to 1717, which isn�t true either.
LAND-MARKS #2 & #3 � The Division of Symbolic Masonry into Three
Degree & The Legend of the Third Degree:
The word �Ancient� is inappropriately used here also. Masonic
Historians mainly agree that the division into the first two degrees was
probably made not before 1719 or after 1721, and the first definitive
reference to the Master Mason degree did not occur until May 12, 1725.
LAND-MARK #4 through #8 � Covers Prerogatives of the Grand Master (see
list above):
These Land-Marks couldn�t be �Ancient� or have existed prior 1717,
because there were no Grand Masters prior 1717. Further, a Grand Master
could be fully in his power to Make a Mason ON SIGHT with a due number
of Brethren assembled and opening of a Lodge, but the Grand Master is
only a creature of a Grand Lodge which holds no Lodge Rights, because it
in itself is only a creation of the Lodges which chartered it and can be
dissolved at any time � So therefore, �Land-Mark� #8 giving the
power of a Grand Master to make a Mason upon/at Sight, without due
assembly and opening of a Lodge is contra the Ancient Charges.
LAND-MARK #18 Certain Qualification of Candidates for Initiation:
Mackey states that a woman, a cripple, or a slave or one born into
slavery is disqualified for initiation into the rite of Masonry.
Anciently in the trades of Masonry in the Guilds of England a youth
nearer the age of 12 was taken on as an apprentice, and he may have very
well been born into slavery or served as a slave prior to his
apprenticeship.
LAND-MARK #21 The Book of the Law shall constitute an indispensable part
of the Furniture of the Lodge:
This �Land-Mark� doesn�t pass the �Ancient� or prior 1717
standard either.
LAND-MARK #25 These Landmarks Can Never Be Changed:
These are Albert G. Mackey�s �Land-Marks� and can only be changed
by him, but these are clearly not the true Ancient �Land-Marks� of
the Masonic Fraternity.
Albert G. Mackey did compose a very fine and beautiful list of so-called
Masonic �Land-Marks�, and so did several other Grand Lodges and
Masonic Writers. The only thing to take away from them is the usage of
the word �Ancient�.
The Prince Hall Grand Lodges were very quick to adopt Mackey�s
�Land-Marks� and today all Prince Hall Grand Lodges adopt his list,
in either full or part. Mackey�s List has also been adopted officially
by four other Mainstream/Predominately White U.S.A. Grand Lodges, while
the rest have either composed their own, recognizes Mackey�s list, but
the majority have not committed themselves in any way to any
�Land-Marks� or Charges.
The Prince Hall Grand Lodge�s continued adoption and obedience to
these �Land-Marks� seems to work well for them, but it will remain
to be this writers opinion that the word �Ancient� in usage with
Albert G. Mackey�s contrived list of so-called Masonic
�Land-Marks� is not appropriate and only leads to more confusion
amongst the craft.
� Mackey, Albert G., �Mackey�s Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry
vol I & 2 (1946).
� Coil/Roberts, Coil�s Masonic Encyclopedia (revised edition 1995)
� The Constitution-Code and By-Laws of the M.W.P.H.G.L. of Ohio
F&AM
