Short Talk Bulletin Vol 09 No 07

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Short Talk Bulletin

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SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.IX   July, 1931   No.7 

THE GAVEL OF AUTHORITY 

by: Unknown 

“The common gavel is an instrument used by operative Masons to break  
off the corners of rough stones, the better to fit them for the  
builder’s use; but we as Free and Accepted Masons are taught to use  
for the more noble and glorious purpose of divesting our hearts and  
consciences of all the vices and superfluities of life, thereby  
fitting our minds as living stones for that spiritual building, that  
House Not Made With Hands, eternal in the Heavens.” 
Mackey, distinguished authority, states that the name comes from  
“Gabel” because the form of the common gavel resembles that of the  
gable of a house. 
But the student will look in the ritual in vain for any allusion to  
the gavel as an instrument of authority, although in some form it is  
primarily the badge of power and authority of the Master, and, often  
in another form and always in a lesser degree, of the Wardens. 
In various Jurisdictions throughout the United States the interested  
visitor will find in use in the East common gavels, stone Mason’s  
hammers made of both wood and metal, the ordinary mallet gavel of the  
legislative halls, the auctioneer’s hammer, and a setting maul in all  
shapes and sizes.  All these various implements, in diverse forms and  
materials, are used as the symbol of the authority of the Master.   
Apparently it is not so important that he have a particular symbol;  
that is, that he carry a “common gavel” or a “setting maul,” but that  
he have always in open Lodge, in his possession, some instrument with  
which blows may be struck, as a symbol of his power, his authority,  
his right to preside and to rule. 
Many studious Freemasons contend with some show of reason that  
inasmuch as the common gavel - the mason’s hammer with one sharp edge  
- is one of the working tools of a speculative Entered Apprentice  
while the setting maul is not classified as a working tool, the  
gavel, and not the maul, is more logically the Master’s symbol of  
authority.  Certainly unless Grand Lodge has ruled otherwise there is  
no argument to be used against a Master presiding with common gavel,  
whether real, of metal, or imitation, of rose or other valuable wood. 
But those who find their only argument for the use of the common  
gavel as the symbol of a Master’s authority in the undoubted fact  
that it is one of the striking tools of the stone mason, as well as a  
working tool of the Speculative Craft, hardly go far enough into  
antiquity. 
As a symbol of authority the hammer is as old as mythology.  Thor,  
the Scandinavian son of Odin and Freya, possessed a miraculous and  
all-powerful hammer which he threw to do his will.  When this was  
accomplished - usually it was a slaying of enemies or a destruction  
of something which the God did not like - his accommodating hammer  
straightway returned to his hands! 
Thor, like Jove, also controlled thunderbolts, and from this early  
myth we associate lightning and thunder with the hammer.  We also  
invert the thought to develop the idea of the authority in a hammer  
or gavel from its age long association with the power of lightening. 
The connection is world wide, and by no means confined either to  
Freemasonry or to Norse mythology.  Thor and his hammer are at the  
bottom of the old “hammer rite of possession.”  Thor, God of  
lightening, by virtue of his control of fire was also the God of the  
domestic hearth.  In ancient days a bride, on taking possession of  
her new home, received a hammer thrown in her lap as a symbol of  
possession.  When her husband purchased land, he took possession by  
throwing a hammer over it. 
The Indian God Parasu Rama, or Rama of the Battleax, obtained land  
from the God of the sea by throwing his battleax over the earth, and  
became possessed of all that it spanned.  The South Sea Islanders use  
a “celt” or hammer, often of huge size, before the chief’s dwelling  
as a symbol of authority.  Mrs. H.G.M. Murray Aynsley (English  
Authority on mythology), says “The Hammer has its uses in Freemasonry  
as a symbol of authority - the auctioneer, too, used a hammer - here  
we see possession implied by the falling or throwing down of a  
hammer. 
Thus, when the Master of a lodge first brings down the gavel to  
convene the Lodge, he by that blow says in effect, “by this act I  
take possession of this Lodge.” 
G.W. Speth, famous writer on Freemasonry, draws attention to the  
curious articles drawn up by the stone masons of Torgau, in Saxony,  
in 1462. 
And every Mason shall keep his lodge free of all strife; yea, his  
lodge shall be kept pure as the seat of justice. And no Mason shall  
bear false witness in his lodge, neither shall he defile it in any  
manner. 
Therefore shall no Mason allow a harlot to enter his lodge, but if  
any one have ought to commune with her he shall depart from the place  
of labor so far as one may cast a gavel. 
Grand Lodges are sovereign within their Jurisdictions.  
Whatever their ukase, it immediately becomes right within that  
Jurisdiction.  We find anomalies in American Freemasonry as a result.   
Thus, most Jurisdictions demand that a Master elect “pass the chairs”  
or receive the Degree of Past Master in a Chapter of the Royal Arch  
before he may be installed.  But that is not true in all  
Jurisdictions.  Where it obtains the practice is both right and  
ancient.  Its absence is “right” when Grand Lodge has so ruled.   
Since the formation of the Mother Grand Lodge in 1717, Masonic  
jurists have conceded the right of a Grand Lodge to make Masons “at  
sight” as inherent; that is the right to convene an occasional or  
emergent lodge, under dispensation, set it to work and disband it  
when its work is done.  Some American Grand Lodges have ruled to the  
contrary.  It is “right” in those Jurisdictions that a Grand Master  
cannot make a Mason “at sight.”  In forty-three of our forty-nine  
Grand Jurisdictions, two of the three Great Lights are the Square and  
Compasses.  In the remaining six, Compasses is incorrect, and  
“compass” is right - aye, with every lexicographer, dictionary,  
encyclopedia and Masonic author-ity to the contrary,. “compass” is  
right in these Jurisdic-tions. 
Under the doctrine that whatever a Grand Lodge declares to be right,  
whether by actual words or by tact agreement, is the law and the  
practice for that particular Jurisdiction, any for of striking  
instrument which is customary is the correct form in that  
Jurisdiction.  The Grand Jurisdiction which sanctions setting mauls  
in all three stations, uses the tool which is correct in that  
Jurisdiction.  If the Grand Lodge sets forth that the Master shall  
use a “common gavel” and the Wardens setting mauls, that practice is  
there correct.  If nothing is said to imply that the Master must use  
the “common gavel” as a symbol of authority, then the familiar form  
of mallet or hammer - by far the commonest form of a presiding  
officer’s instrument - may be considered as correct as any other. 
We are not very liberal minded in our Masonic symbolism.  The Square  
and the Compasses on our Altars are hardly large or strong enough to  
play Operative parts in stone cutting and setting.  The “working  
tools” we present to initiates are but miniatures of the real tools  
they symbolize.  The trowel which we tell a candidate is more  
especially the essential tool of the Master Mason, is usually far too  
small to spread real cement between real stones.  Certainly no gavel  
of wood, be its form what it may, can “break off the corners of rough  
stones.”  So, while the beauty of the symbolism of the “common gavel”  
as the presiding officer’s instrument of authority is obvious, usage  
and custom and expedience in many lodges have metamorphosed it into a  
little mallet of wood, just as the tiny square upon the Altar is an  
expedient metamorphosis of the great metal tool of the Operative  
Mason.  Perhaps it is not so important that the wood of the gavel be  
carved to imitate some particular striking tool of the Operative  
Masons, as that the brethren understand the power and authority  
inherent in it. 
Whatever form of gavel is used, the Master should always retain  
possession of the instrument and never have it beyond his reach.  He  
should carry it with him when he moves about the Lodge, whether in  
process of conferring a degree, or when the Lodge in charge of the  
Junior Warden at refreshment.  This, be it noted, is not only because  
it is his symbol of authority, but to remind him that, although his  
position is the highest within the gift of the brethren, he is yet  
but a brother among brethren.  Holding the highest power in the  
Lodge, he exercises it by virtue of the commonest of the working  
tools. 
All powerful, within certain limits, in the Lodge, the Master has  
authority to temporarily transfer his power.  He may honor a visitor  
by presenting him with the gavel (and should always remove his hat  
when the gavel passes).  He may place another in the Oriental Chair  
to confer a degree (in most Jurisdictions) at which time he hands  
over the gavel of authority.  Because he has the right to transfer  
the authority, he should always be in position to exercise it;  
another reason for always retaining possession of his gavel! 
The authority by which the Master rules is not, of course, the mere  
physical possession of a piece of wood or iron.  The Master may be a  
physical weakling.  Some powerful two hundred-pounder may easily  
wrest from him the emblem of authority, but such forcible possession  
would not transfer the authority.  The authority to use the gavel  
comes first from election and installation, the powers of both of  
which ceremonies rest on the authority of the Grand Lodge.  Once  
installed, a Master cannot be deprived of his gavel of authority  
except by the Grand Lodge, or the Grand Master “ad interim” (or his  
deputy acting in his stead).  The brethren elect to the East, but  
cannot “unelect” or take away the power they have once given.  The  
gavel of authority is not transferable save by the will of its lawful  
possessor, except at the order of the Grand Lodge, or the Grand  
Master (or his deputy acting for him).  In most Jurisdictions such an  
action by a Grand Master or Deputy, “ad interim” Grand Lodge. is  
reviewable by the Grand Lodge at its next succeeding regular  
communication. 
The Master enforces the authority of which the gavel is the symbol -  
first and usually last and all the time - by the good will and the  
Masonic practices of his brethren.  Few Lodges would tolerate  
disobedience to the gavel by any brother.  Occasionally a hot-headed  
brother has attempted to defy its power.  In such cases the Master  
may ask the offender to leave the room.  His failure to respond lays  
him open to charges of un-Masonic conduct and a Masonic trial.  The  
Master may request the Marshall or Master of ceremonies to remove the  
offender.  Or the Master may - as sometimes has been done - us the  
gavel to call from labor to refreshment, during which period there  
will be plenty to admonish the offender of the enormity of his  
offense against Masonic law. good manners and good taste! 
The charges given a Mason at the close of all three Degrees are  
generally held to have the binding force of all other Masonic  
teachings and obligations.  The brother who signs the by-laws as a  
Master Mason agrees by so doing to abide not only by them but by all  
the unwritten usages and customs of the Fraternity and all the  
admonishments of the charges.  Those who know their ritual will  
recall that in the charge of the third degree it is said: “The  
ancient Landmarks of the Order you are carefully to preserve and  
never suffer them to be infringed, countenance a departure from the  
ancient usages and customs of the Fraternity.” 
Obedience to the gavel is indeed an “ancient usage and custom” of the  
Fraternity.  Rarely is it defied - never with impunity. But to reach  
its fullest respect, the gavel must be wisely used. 
“It is fine to have a giant’s strength— It is despicable to use it  
like a giant!” 
applies here.  The Master “may” do what he will in his Lodge.  He may  
cut off discussion, rap a brother down, cause a brother to leave the  
room, refuse to put a motion, declare the Lodge at recess, close at  
his pleasure, control debate, arrange the work, refuse a bother  
permission to speak - all with the gavel.  But the wise Master uses  
his great power sparingly and never arbitrarily.  While the peace and  
harmony of the Craft are maintained, he need not use it except as the  
ritual or custom of presiding in the Lodge requires.  If he so uses  
it, it will be respected, its possessor will be venerated, and its  
transfer to another hand will be considered by the brethren what it  
actually is, a great and signal honor. 
No Master may pay a higher tribute to any brother than to intrust him  
with the gavel.  He offers it to the Grand Master (or his Deputy  
representing him), because it is the right of those dignitaries to  
preside in all private Lodges.  He offers it to another to preside  
during the conferring of a degree, or to a distinguished visitor, as  
a mark of the greatest respect and confidence. 
A gavel is not a necessity.  A Master and two brethren can open and  
close a Lodge if they have the Great Lights and a Charter.  Lesser  
Lights, a gavel, Warden’s columns, Aprons, and Altar are not  
essential.  Without the Great Lights and a Charter (or dispensation)  
a Lodge cannot be opened, though it has every other accessory.  The  
gavel, then, is the symbol of the authority, not the authority  
itself.  Like all great symbols, it takes upon itself in the minds of  
the brethren something of the quality of the thing symbolized.  As we  
revere the cotton in stripes and stars which became the Flag of our  
Country; as we revere the paper and ink which became the Great Light  
in Masonry, so, also, do Freemasons revere the little hammer, mallet,  
setting maul or common gavel which typifies and symbolizes the height  
of Masonic power and authority - the majesty of power, the wisdom of  
Light which rest in and shine forth from the Oriental Chair.