Editing Rudyard Kipling (section)

===Freemasonry===
According to the English magazine ''Masonic Illustrated'', Kipling became a [[Freemasonry|Freemason]] in about 1885, before the usual minimum age of 21,<ref name=Mackey>Mackey, Albert G. (1946). ''Encyclopedia of Freemasonry'', Vol. 1. Chicago: The Masonic History Co.</ref> being initiated into [[Masonic Temple (Lahore)|Hope and Perseverance Lodge No. 782]] in [[Lahore, Pakistan|Lahore]]. He later wrote to ''[[The Times]]'', "I was Secretary for some years of the Lodge... which included Brethren of at least four creeds. I was entered [as an Apprentice] by a member from [[Brahmo Somaj]], a [[Hindu]], passed [to the degree of Fellow Craft] by a [[Mohammedan]], and raised [to the degree of Master Mason] by an Englishman. Our [[Tyler (Masonic)|Tyler]] was an [[Indian Jew]]." Kipling received not only the three degrees of Craft Masonry but also the side degrees of [[Mark Master Mason]] and Royal Ark Mariner.<ref>[http://albertpike.wordpress.com/kipling-mason/ Our brother Rudyard Kipling. Masonic lecture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308201720/http://albertpike.wordpress.com/kipling-mason/ |date=8 March 2012 }}. Albertpike.wordpress.com (7 October 2011). Retrieved on 4 May 2017.</ref>

Kipling so loved his Masonic experience that he memorialised its ideals in his poem "The Mother Lodge",<ref name=Mackey/> and used the fraternity and its symbols as vital plot devices in his novella ''[[The Man Who Would Be King]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hamiltondistrictcmasons.org/upload/lecture_file111.pdf |title=Official Visit to Meridian Lodge No. 687 |date=12 February 2014 |access-date=15 September 2017 |archive-date=15 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915161025/http://www.hamiltondistrictcmasons.org/upload/lecture_file111.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>