THE BUILDER AUGUST 1916

THE WINDING STAIRWAY
BY BRO. ROGERS H. GALT, TENNESSEE

(The following lecture on the second section of the Fellow Craft Degree was
submitted to the Board of Custodians of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, and is
being considered by them with a view to its adoption as a part of the
text-book of that Grand Body. By the kindness of Brother Howell E- Jackson,
33d Hon., and a member of the Board of Custodians, it is offered to us for
publication in The Builder, that it may have the wide hearing which it so
richly deserves. It is exceedingly well-conceived and wellwritten, and is an
admirable discussion not only of one section of one Degree, but a fine
treatise on Masonry in general. It is with great pleasure that we present it
to our readers, knowing that it will have a responsive hearing.--The Editor.)

The second section of this degree sets forth the scope and aims of
Freemasonry. To become familiar with these is the duty and privilege of every
Fellow Craft; and although no one can grasp them completely in a few minutes,
or even in many hours, nevertheless every brother may derive from this
symbolic lecture a fund of valuable information for future study and
contemplation.

We view Masonry under two denominations: Operative and Speculative. We work in
Speculative Masonry; our Ancient Brethren wrought in both Operative and
Speculative. They worked at the building of King Solomon's temple, and many
other sacred and Masonic edifices.

By Operative Masonry we allude to a proper application of the useful rules of
architecture, whence a structure will derive figure, strength and beauty; by
Speculative Masonry we allude to a proper application of those moral and
spiritual rules whence our minds and consciences will derive a heavenly
strength and beauty.

By Operative Masonry we learn to control the materials and forces of nature,
to build by the square, and to maintain a due proportion and just
correspondence between all the parts of an edifice; by Speculative Masonry we
learn to control the passions, act upon the square, keep a tongue of good
report, observe secrecy, practice charity and maintain patriotism. It is so
far interwoven with religion as to lay us under obligation to pay that
rational homage to the Deity which constitutes at once our duty and our
happiness.

Many of the customs and traditions of the Ancient Operative Brethren are
followed by Speculative Masons of to-day; and this evening we may with profit
imitate one of the ancient ceremonies.

There were employed in the building of King Solomon's temple eighty thousand
Fellow Crafts, who were under the supervision of our ancient Grand Master. On
the evening of the sixth day, tradition tells us, their work was inspected,
and all who were found worthy, by a strict attention to their duties, were
invested with certain mystic signs, grips and words, to enable them to work
their way into the Middle Chamber of the temple. On the same day, and at the
same hour, King Solomon, accompanied by his most trusted officers, repaired to
the Middle Chamber to receive them. His Secretary he placed near his person;
the Junior Warden he placed at the Southern outer door, and the Senior Warden
at the Western inner door, with strict injunctions to suffer none to enter
except such as were duly qualified by possessing the mystic signs, grips and
words previously agreed upon; so that when they did enter, King Solomon knew
them to be faithful workmen, and there remained nothing to do but to pay them
their wages and record their names, admonishing them of the reverence due the
sacred name of Deity. He then suffered them to depart in peace, until the time
should come for the beginning of another week's work.

We are now about to work our way into a place representing the Middle Chamber
of King Solomon's temple, and should we succeed, I have no doubt that we shall
alike be rewarded as were they. At the beginning of our journey we pass
through a long aisle representing the porch of the temple, and between two
columns lepresenting the two brazen pillars which King Solomon caused to be
set up at the entrance. The pillar the right was called ---- and denotes ----;
the one the left was called ---- and denotes----; taken together, they allude
to the promise of God to David, "in strength will I establish thine house and
kingdom ever."

These pillars were eighteen cubits in height, and were surmounted by capitals
five cubits in height. The capitals were ornamented with wreaths of net-work,
leaves of lily-work, and chains of pomegranates. The net-work, from the
intricate connection of its parts, denotes Unity; the lily, from its extreme
whiteness and purity, denotes Peace; the pomegranate, from the exuberance of
its seeds, denotes Plenty. To us, as Specative Masons, they teach important
lessons. Plenty, in that though some may possess more than others of this
world's goods, yet every man who has health and the ability to labor may have
his own plenty; Peace, that here, on the broad level of Brotherly Love, the
high, the low,--the rich, the poor,--meet with one common purpose and one
single aim, the exaltation and perpetuation of each other's friendship and
each other's love; Unity, being bound together by the indissoluble bond of
fellowship in our glorious fraternity.

Passing between these columns, we arrive at the foot of a flight of winding
stairs, representing those winding stairs which, the Holy Bible tells us, led
from the ground floor to the middle chamber of King Solomon's temple. You
stand here, my brother, as a man just starting forth on the journey of life,
with the great task before him of self-improvement. The labor required in the
faithful performance of this task is great, but the reward is magnificent. The
labor is that of gaining self-control, of divesting the mind and conscience of
all the vices and superfluities of life, and of developing the body, mind and
spirit; the reward is the perfect character, as designed by the Great
Architect upon the spiritual, moral and Masonic TrestleBoard.

The stairway consists of three divisions. The first explains the great purpose
in the labor of life; the second explains the use of one's own self in
self-development; the third explains the use of the world, which the Deity has
placed around us, in the perfection of our characters.

The first division, consisting of three steps, alludes to the three great
lights in Masonry, which have already been explained to you. These steps
allude also to the three principal officers of a lodge: the Worshipful Master
in ----, the Senior Warden in ----, and the Junior Warden in ----. They
allude, further, to the great luminary of the solar system, the sun, as seen
from its three principal points of observation. It rises in the east with mild
and genial influence, all nature rejoicing at the approach of its beams; with
increasing strength it attains its meridian in the south, invigorating all
nature with its animating radiance; with declining strength it sets in the
west, leaving mankind to rest from his labors. This, my brother, is but a type
of the three principal stages in the life of man--infancy, manhood and old
age. The first is characterized by a blush of innocence as pure as the tints
which gild the eastern portals of the day: the heart rejoices in the
unsuspected integrity of its own unblemished virtue: it fears no deceit, for
it knows no guile. Manhood succeeds; with increasing strength man attains the
meridian of his powers; but when old age comes on, his strength decays;
enfeebled by sickness and bodily infirmities he lingers on, until death
finally closes his eventful existence. Thrice happy is he if the setting
splendors of a well-spent life gild his depar-ting moments with the gentle
tints of hope, and close his short career in peace, harmony, and brotherly
love.

So shalt thou live, my brother ! And what if thou withdraw in silence from the
living, and no friend take note of thy departure ? All that breathe will share
thy destiny. The gay will laugh when thou are gone; the solemn brood of care
plod on, and each one, as before, will chase his favorite phantom; yet all
these shall leave their mirth and their employments, and shall come and make
their bed with thee. And as the long train of ages glides away, he that goeth
in life's green spring, he that goeth in the full strength of years, and he
bowed down by age, shall one by one be gathered to thy side, by those who in
their turn shall follow them. Ponder this well, my brothel, and "when thy
summons comes to join the innumerable caravan which moves to the pale realms
of shade, where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death, go
not like the quarry-slave at night scourged to his dungeon; but, sustained and
soothed by an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave like one who wraps the
drapery of his couch around him and lies down to pleasant dreams."

You will now take with me these three steps, arriving at the second division
of the stairway, which consists of five steps. These allude to the five senses
of man: hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling, and tasting. The proper use of
these senses, and of the other human faculties, enables us to sustain our
lives, ward off dangers, enjoy all the legitimate pleasures, and contribute to
the comfort and happiness of others. Their improper use, consisting usually of
an over-indulgence, but sometimes of too harsh a self-denial, tends in either
case to an impairment of their proper functioning, and hence to an
enfeeblement of the entire system. Speculative Masonry warns us, on the one
hand, not to degenerate to the level of brutes in seeking only a beastly
gratification of the senses; and, on the other hand, not to despise or neglect
any faculty, but, using them one and all as a means of self-development, to
attain thereby to the fulness of true manhood.

Of these senses three are deemed peculiarly essential among Masons: hearing,
seeing, and feeling; for by the ear we hear the ----; by the eye we see the
----, and by the hand we feel ----.

The five steps also allude to the five Orders of Architecture; a knowledge of
which was invaluable to our Ancient Operative Brethren. These are the Tuscan,
Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite. Each order is distinguished from the
others by the shape of its column, there being great variety in richness of
ornamentation. To us as Speculative Masons they teach the important lesson
that we should so develop our faculties that each one, in his separate
calling, may attain that skill and proficiency which our Operative Brethren
displayed in the art of Architecture.

Of these five orders, the Ionic, Doric and Corinthian are most esteemed by
Masons. These allude to the ----.

You will now take with me these five steps, arriving at the third division of
the stairway, which consists of seven steps. These steps allude to those
branches of learning which were anciently called the Seven Liberal Arts and
Sciences: Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and
Astronomy. You may be familiar with these, my brother, from the experience of
every-day life. You may even have studied them in institutions of learning,
and have gained a knowledge of their inner secrets and a mastery over their
intricate processes. It is not the function of Masonry to expound them to you.
It is, however, one of the great purposes of Masonry to teach you the due and
proper attitude toward these and all other phases of intellecr tual activity.
Knowledge is of little worth, unless wisdom be coupled with it; and Masonry
endeavors to teach man to use his knowledge wisely.

The arts and sciences may be regarded as treasuries of the intellectual wealth
of the world. They are filled with a coin which man must needs have in order
to purchase his daily bread. More and more, as civilization progresses, does
it become impossible for man to perform any labor successfully without
systematic thought; and science, my brother, is nothing but systematic
thought. Hence Masonry enjoins you, for your own advancement, to pursue with
diligence a study of the sciences, and of the arts dependent upon them.

Moreover, it is not merely for your own sake that such study is recommended.
It may happen that any man--perhaps you, my brother--may through scientific
knowledge make some discovery or invention which will bring untold comforts
and blessings to your own posterity and to the whole human race; it may be
that through your command of grammar and rhetoric, some literature, some
eloquent oratory, may be given to the world, to guide and elevate all mankind.
Hence, for the good you may do to others, Masonry calls upon you to proceed
ever forward to the improvement of your mind.

Finally, my brother, for the sake of your duty to the Deity, Masonry commends
to you the highest intellectual efforts. Have not the sciences revealed to us
many of nature's most intimate secrets, and many of the grandest conceptions
of the Universe? Have not the arts enabled us to control and to employ some of
the most gigantic forces of nature ? Have not these accomplishments inspired
us with reverence for the Creator far beyond that of the untutored savage ?
And by their very limitations, have not our studies proved to us how
insignificant is our knowledge and our power compared with that omniscience
and omnipotence which has designed, and now governs, the universe?

It has been said of old, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament
declareth the work of his hands," and again, "When our telescope sweeps the
midnight sky, we do but think the thoughts of God after Him."

So, my brother, should the sciences and the arts have a three-fold Masonic
value to you; to improve yourself, to enable you to help others, and to
inspire you with a due reverence for the Deity.

You will now take these seven steps, arriving at the top of our symbolic
stairway. From here, my brother, look back, and consider the lesson of life
which Masonry would teach you. From the first division of the stairway yoU
learn the great principle which is to give purpose to your life--Brotherly
Love. From the second division you learn the second element in Masonic
self-improvement: the Manly Development of your Faculties. From the third
division you learn the third element: the Illumination of Knowledge with
Wisdom.

My brother, is your spirit humble before the tremendous problems of life ?
Masonry can give help and advancement to the humblest of the humble. Is your
spirit ambitious, viewing the splendid opportunities of life? Masonry can
offer to the most ambitious a field for inconceivable success and triumph.
Broad indeed is this, the field of Masonic activities. With its vast extent
backward, to the dim horizon of the past; with its comprehensive sweep around
us, to every part of the modern world; with its grand, alluring avenues to the
limitless expanse of the future: embracing the citadels of labor, of science
and of art; the heights of philosophy, of morality, of religion; the gardens
of charity, of brotherhood, of love; bounded only in breadth by the
ever-widening capacities of man, in length by the endless duration of time, in
richness by the infinite love of God! The scope of Masonic activities, my
brother, is indeed the whole world, which you are summoned to meet with the
true and noble spirit of a Mason.

In King Solomon's temple even an unworthy workman might ascend the flight of
stairs to the inner door; so you, my brother, though you have ascended, may
not be worthy. Yet bear in mind that as the unworthy workman in the temple,
not knowing the mystic signs, grips and words, could not pass the door into
the Middle Chamber, so you can never pass into the inner chamber of that
spiritual and Masonic temple, eternal in the heavens, until you have secured
those spiritual signs and tokens which none but a worthy Speculative Mason may
obtain.

We are now at a place representing the outer door of the Middle Chamber of
King Solomon's temple.
o

DISCIPLINE
Duty, courage, self-discipline these are the laws that make a man. Either one
without the other two is incomplete. A man who knows his duty, but has not the
courage to do it, is a failure. Equally so if he have not the discipline of
mind and heart and hand to do it effectively.
J.F.N.

