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 Old
English Tracing Boards of the entered Apprentice degree show the
Lewis, a peculiar tool of operative masons.
The instrument is made of
a pair of dovetail wedges, provided with a hook or ring. Inserted in
a hole in a large stone, pulling on the hook or ring spreads and
locks the wedges securely in the stone, so that it may be raised by
derrick or other lifting force, without putting a rope or chain
about it. The greater the pull, the heavier the stone, the more
securely is the Lewis locked in the hole. From this the Lewis easily
became a symbol of strength, and is so denominated in certain old
English rituals.
In the transactions of
“Quatuor Coronoti Lodge,” the great research organization of London,
in Volume X (1897) appears the following: “In a Charter of
Ethelbert, dated 862, Lewisham is known a “Liofshema mearc’,’ the
mark of the inhabitants of ‘Liofsham,’ the home or dwelling of some
person whose name began with the element ‘Liof’ or ‘Leof,’ i.e.,
dear. This prefix appears to be corrupted from Keof- su, which was
from Leofsuna, literally, dear son. It still survives in the family
named Leveson, pronounced Lewson. The place name appears to go
through some digressions, for the seventeenth century it was written
Lews’am, and was spelt phonetically as Lusam, end eventually it
became, through change of etymology, Lewis. In Masonic language, we
have also another lewis to account for, namely the combination of
pieces of metal, which form a dovetail; now if the urchin who
assisted his father was called Lewis, it is possible that the
comparatively small piece of mechanism, in comparison to the weight
it is capable of sustaining, as a saving of labor, may have in trade
vocabulary been called a lewis - dear one.”
The Harris Masonic
manuscript, No.1 (seventeenth century) defines the word as follows:
“A Lewis is such an one
as hath served an Apprenticeship to a Mason, but it is not admitted
afterwards according to the custom of making Masons.:
Compare this with the
curious statement in the Carmick manuscript, in the possession of
the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania:
“You shall not make a
Mould or Square for any that is cut a Kenis, for a Kenis is one that
hath not admitted afterwards according to the Custom of Making
Masons.”
Hughan, the great Masonic
scholar, read “Cut a Kenis” to mean “But a Lewis” - in other words,
the prohibition to Masons is that no Mould or Square may be made for
any one who is “only” a Lewis, not actually a member of the Craft.
The son of an English
Mason is called a Lewis, for a reason which is set forth in Browne’s
“Master Key,” which purports to be a verbatim account of a part of
the original Prestonian lecture. It reads:
What do we call
the son of a Freemason?
A Lewis.
What does it
denote?
Strength.
How is a Lewis
depicted in Mason’s Lodge?
As cramp
(clamp) of metal, by which, when fixed into a stone, great
and ponderous weights are raised to a certain height, and
fixed upon their p[roper basis, without which Operative
Masons could not so conveniently do.
What is the duty
of a Lewis, the Son of a Mason, to his aged parents?
To bear the
heavy burden in the heat of the day and help them in time of
need, which, by reason of their great age, they ought to be
exempted from, so as to render the close of their days happy
and comfortable.
His privilege for
so doing?
To be made a
Mason before any other person, however dignified by birth,
rank or riches, unless he, through complaisance, waives this
privilege.
In France the son of a
Freemason is called a Louveteau (daughter Louvetine) which may have
been derived from “louffton” a word occasionally used in place of
Lewis in the seventeenth century; the French word for the operative
instrument is “Louve.” Here a curious verbal bypath invites the
student; Louveteau also means a young wolf. In the Egyptian
Mysteries, the candidate, wearing a mask or covering simulating a
wolf’s head, was often called “wolf.” Apparently the reason for the
masking of a candidate as a wolf is found in the tenuous connection
between the sun, which scatters the flocks of stars from the sky,
and the wolf, which scatters the flocks of sheep and cattle. The sun
was the central symbol of many ancient mystery religions. Similarly,
the Greek “Lukos” is both the sun and a wolf. Albert Pike said that
a Louveteau might be received as such when twelve years of age, or
over. According to this authority, any Symbolic Lodge might receive
any Louteteau by a special ceremony, which while it did not
especially obligate the Lodge to support or educate him, did promise
that the Lodge would watch over him, protect him, give him counsel
and advice. In his book, “Offices of Masonic Baptism, Reception of a
Louveteau and adoption,” Pike states: “It (the ceremony of
reception) entitles the Louveteau to be received an Apprentice at
the age of twenty-one years, if he be found worthy and intelligent.”
The qualifying phrase
obviously takes away from the privilege the first promises, since
all men who are “worthy and intelligent” may be “received an
Apprentice at the age of twenty-one years.” Pike lays down rules
regarding the reception of a Louveteau; the question may be
considered at a regular meeting of the Lodge; application must be
made in writing by the father, if living; otherwise, in writing by
the mother, or other relative or friend; the father must be a member
of a Lodge, except that, by unanimous vote, a Louveteau may be
received even if the father is not a member - “the son may be
worthy, though the father may constitute the strongest claim of the
child on the Lodge;” action may be had without a Committee, in the
absence of objection; if a brother desires, a Committee of three
“will be appointed, to report at the next regular meeting;”
ordinarily, a two-thirds vote is sufficient to insure reception;
applications refused may be re-presented in six months; “bad
character of applicant or unworthiness of the father is good cause
for rejection,” otherwise, “to become a Louveteau is a matter of
right;” vote is in an Entered Apprentices’ Lodge and “the result
with the names of those voting yea and nay” is to be entered on the
records.
Pike’s “reception of a
Louveteau” covers sixty pages. A single quotation will suffice:
“It is one of the duties
of Brotherhood, arising out of that holy relationship, to guide and
guard, and rear and educate, if need be, a Brother’s children. Let
us recognize this duty, and add to its obligation our solemn pledge
to watch incessantly over this youth, to avert from him pestilential
influences, warn him against ill examples, and rescue him from
perils. Let us, according to our ancient custom, and by the ancient
and symbolic name, receive him as our Ward in the hope that he will
in due time become our Brother.” Where Pike got the authority for
the statements he makes or the inspiration for his beautiful if
lengthy ceremony, cannot be stated. No American Grand Lodge
authorizes such a ceremony. But Pike’s statement that it is “one of
the duties of Brotherhood to guide and guard, to rear and educate” a
brother’s children is followed in both letter and spirit by many
Grand Lodges; which maintain Homes, Schools or Charity Foundations
by which the children of Master Masons are guide, guarded and
educated when the father has passed beyond his power to do a
father’s duty. Spiritually, then, if not by Masonic law, the
children of a Master Mason are indeed treated as Pike would have had
Louveteaus and Louvetines treated.
Erroneous statements are
often made that a Lewis may be initiated at eighteen years of age.
Washington, who received his Entered Apprentice degree when he was
twenty years and eight months of age; is often mentioned to prove
the point.
Whatever the practices in
an older day, in England a Lewis cannot now be initiated before he
is of “lawful age,” without a dispensation. There is no evidence
whatever that Washington was ever considered a Lewis. His initiation
before being twenty-one can much more logically by laid to the lax
practices of an easy age when Freemasonry in this country was very
informal, far from original authority, developing largely from its
own motion in a time when experiment in a new land, with a new
government, in ideas, in hopes was in the air.
In middle ages England it
was an invariable custom for a son to follow in his father’s
footsteps; such names as Smithson, Wrightson, etc., come from the
days when the smith and the wheelwright had sons who became also
wheelwrights and smiths. Most fathers have a hope that their sons
will follow where they led, take up the same profession, carry on
the old firm; it is human expression of the longing for that form of
immortality, expressed in the desire that what has been honorable
and useful in the family will continue to be so.
Masons who have sons are
usually intensely interested in seeing them become members of the
ancient Craft. A Petition and fee is often made a coming-of-age gift
to a young man on his twenty-first birthday. From this natural hope
of a Mason that his son will go where he preceded him, in turn to
receive Masonic light and the happiness and education that may come
from membership in a Lodge, has arisen the feeling in most Lodges,
the stronger that it is not expressed in formal law, of interest in
the boys of members. Lodges are not consciously influenced in their
judgment of petitions from the sons of members by that fact, but
Masons would be less than human if they did opt look with some
indulgence on the young men who ask to follow in the path their
fathers have walked.
In this sense, then, the
Lewis has a privilege in all Lodges; he is already known, by proxy
at least, to the Lodge to which he applies, and there is a natural
predisposition favorably to consider his application, and for the
committee to judge him with mercy. It is a sound tribute to the
common sense of American Masonic law that the Lewis has few if any
legally stated privilege. The Grand Lodge of North Dakota has in its
by-laws (page 38, revision of 1928): “Candidate: Age reduced in some
Cases - Lewis.
Any Lodge in this Grand
Jurisdiction may lawfully receive and ballot upon a petition for the
degrees of a son or nephew of an affiliated Mason within the last
six months of such petitioners twenty-first year; however, if
elected, he shall not be initiated an Entered Apprentice until he
has attained the age of twenty-one.”
The Constitution of the
Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia prior to 1924 stated:
“No Lodge shall initiate
any candidate who is under 21 years of age, etc.”
Questions arising as to
the age at which application might be received, Grand Master Roberts
ruled (1924) that no petition might be legally received from a
minor, basing his ruling on civil law which makes minors unable to
execute contracts. Later, the Constitution was revised to read:
“No Lodge shall accept
the petition of any candidate who is under 21 years of age at the
time of the presentation of his petition to the Lodge, etc.”
Generally speaking, Grand
Lodges require petitioners to be of legal age; all in this country
require them to be either “twenty-one” or of “lawful age” before
initiation.
During the Great War,
many Grand Jurisdictions waived not only “suitable proficiency”
between degrees, but often the matter of “lawful age” for sons of
Masons in the armed forces of the nation. Lodges with a restricted
membership often provided that the petitions of sons or fathers of
members may be received and ballot had, regardless of whether the
roster is full or not.
The Order of DeMolay for
boys is for sons of Master Masons, and their friends; which in
effect means any boy who can be recommended by a Master Mason. The
Order continually insists that its membership is not in any way to
be considered as helpful in later receiving Masonic membership.
Lewis and Louveteau, sons
of Masons, in this country, then, are words with no special Masonic
standing; the words are scarcely known to a majority of Masons. But
in the spirit of our Lodges the old idea of the son following in his
father’s footsteps persists; hence it is not infrequent to find
Lodges arranging “father and son” nights, and it is still an event
in any Lodge when a father raises his son to the Sublime Degree -
more rare, and even more interesting, when it is the son’s good
fortune to raise his father.
Predicating the whole
philosophy of Freemasonry upon a certain Fatherhood, it would be odd
indeed, however little official recognition we give them, if Masons
had no special tenderness of feeling for their Lewises and Louveteas.
Short Talk Bulletin - Feb. 1935
Masonic Service Association of North America |
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