THE BUILDER AUGUST 1918

SYMBOLISM OF THE THREE DEGREES

PART I--THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ENTERED APPRENTICE DEGREE

IT is first necessary that we should understand the scope of my
subject. First, be it understood, I attempt to exhaust no topic
upon which I touch, but only to stimulate the interest and
curiosity of my readers to pursue the subject further for
themselves. Under the term "symbolism" I include also the legends
and allegories of Masonry, though properly speaking they are not
symbols. Yet they are all so closely interwoven and so employed for
the same or like purposes they can scarcely be treated separately.

General Albert Pike, that great Freemason and philosopher, says
that "to translate the symbols (of Freemasonry) into the trivial
and commonplace is the blundering of mediocrity."

That there has been some blundering of this kind on the part of our
Monitor makers must be apparent to any serious and intelligent
student of Masonry.

Difficult as it is to assign adequate meaning to some of our
Masonic symbols, it is equally difficult, when once started, to
know where to stop. Says a distinguished British Freemason, Brother
W. H. Rylands:

"Symbolism is always a difficult affair as everyone knows or at
least ought to know. When once fairly launched on the subject, it
often becomes an avalanche or torrent which may carry one away into
the open sea or more than empty space. On few questions has more
rubbish been written than that of symbols and symbolism, it is a
happy hunting ground for those, who guided by no sort of system or
rule, ruled only by their own sweet will, love to allow their
fancies and imaginations to run wild. Interpretations are given
which have no other foundation than the disordered brain of the
writer, and, when proof or anything approaching a definite
statement is required, symbols are confused with metaphors and we
are involved in a further maze of follies and wilder fancies."

Thus I am to steer our bark between the Scylla of Brother Pike and
the Charybdis of Brother Rylands; without, therefore, descending to
the common-place on the one hand or soaring away from the plane of
common sense on the other, I hope to be able to say something of
interest concerning the symbolism of the First degree.

A symbol is a visible representation of some object or thing, real
or imagined, employed to convey a certain idea. Some times there is
an apparent connection between the symbol and the thought
represented, but more often the association seems to be entirely
arbitrary. The earliest forms of symbolism of which we know were
the ancient hieroglyphical systems of writing. We may indeed say
that symbolism is but a form of writing; in fact, the earliest and
for hundreds, and perhaps even thousands of years, the only form of
writing known to the human race. It prevailed among every ancient
people of whom we have any definite knowledge.

The learned Dr. William Stukeley, of England, the author of many
antiquarian works, said truly that the "wisdom of all the ancients
that is come down to our hands is symbolic."

This ancient form of writing, now generally fallen into disuse,
Masonry has to some extent at least perpetuated and employs in
recording her precepts and impressing them upon her votaries.

Another ancient and favorite method of teaching still employed by
Masons is that of the allegory. The allegory is a figure of speech,
that is to say, a departure from the direct and simple mode of
speaking, and the employment, for the sake of illustration or
emphasis, of a fancied resemblance between one object or thing and
another.

If we say of a man, as we often uncharitably do, "He is an ass,"
this is a metaphor. If we say of him as Carlisle did of Wordsworth,
"He looks like a horse," this is a simile. An extended simile with
the comparative form and words left out, in which the real subject
is never directly mentioned but left to be inferred, is called an
allegory. The most famous example of the allegory in literature is
Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress."

One desirous of entering into the real spirit of these ancient
methods of imparting instruction should read Bacon's "Wisdom of the
Ancients," and particularly the preface to that remarkable book. He
shows that nearly all the complex and to us absurd tales of Grecian
mythology were but parts of a great system for inculcating natural,
moral and religious truths by means of the allegory. What more
grotesque and revolting, we may ask, than the myth of Pan ?

"He is portrayed by the ancients," to quote Bacon, "in this guise:
on his head a pair of horns that reach to heaven; his body rough
and hairy, his beard long and shabby; his shape biformed, above
like a man, and below like a beast, his feet like goats hoofs; and
he bore these ensigns of his jurisdiction, to-wit, in his left hand
a pipe of seven reeds, and in his right a sheephook, or a staff
crooked at the upper end, and his mantle made of a leopard's skin."

Yet under the master touch of Lord Bacon this incongruous creature,
half man and half goat, is shown to be a beautiful and apt symbol
of all nature.

Approaching that branch of symbolism which at present concerns us,
Masonic Symbolism, it may be asserted in the broadest terms that
the Mason who knows nothing of our symbolism knows little of
Freemasonry. He may be able to repeat every line of the ritual
without an error, and yet, if he does not understand the meaning of
the ceremonies, the signs, the words, the emblems and the figures,
he is an ignoramus Masonically. It is distressing to witness how
much time and labor is spent in memorizing "the work"; and how
little in ascertaining what it all means.

Far be it from me to under-rate the importance of letter perfection
in rendering our ritual. In no other way can the symbolism of our
emblems, ceremonies, traditions, and allegories be accurately
preserved, but I do maintain that, if we are never to understand
their meanings, it is useless to preserve them. The two go hand in
hand; without either the beauty and symmetry of the Masonic temple
is destroyed.

It is in its symbols and allegories that Freemasonry surpasses all
other societies. If any of them now teach by these methods it is
because they have slavishly imitated Freemasonry.

The great Mason and scholar, Brother Albert Pike, said:

"The symbolism of Masonry is the soul of Masonry. Every symbol of
a lodge is a religious teacher, the mute teacher also of morals and
philosophy. It is in its ancient symbols and in the knowledge of
their true meanings that the preeminence of Freemasonry over all
other orders consists. In other respects. some of them may compete
with it, rival it, perhaps even except it; but by its symbols it
will reign without a peer when it learns again what its symbols
mean, and that each is the embodiment of some great, old, rare
truth."

In our Masonic studies the moment we forget that the whole and
every part of Freemasonry is symbolic or allegoric, the same
instant we begin to grope in the dark. Its ceremonies, signs,
tokens, words and lectures at once become meaningless or trivial.
The study of no other aspect of Freemasonry is more important, yet
I believe the study of no aspect of it has been so much neglected.
Brother Robert F. Gould, of England, our foremost Masonic
historian, declares it is the "one great and pressing duty of
Freemasons." Brother Albert Pike, no doubt the greatest philosopher
produced by our fraternity, declared as we have seen that symbolism
is the soul of Masonry.

We are told in our Monitors that "every emblem, character and
figure depicted in the lodge has a moral and useful meaning and
forcibly inculcates the practice of virtue." The same may with
equal truth be said of our every ceremony, sign, token, legend, and
allegory. If this be true, it must follow that to be ignorant of
Masonic symbolism is to be ignorant of Masonry.

In the ceremonies of making a Mason, however, we do not attempt to
do more than to indicate the pathway to Masonic knowledge, to lay
the foundation for the Masonic edifice; the brother must pursue the
journey or complete the structure for himself by reading and
reflection.

There must be somewhere in Freemasonry a consistent plan running
entirely through it by which all that is genuine in it may be
rationally explained. It can not be that a miscellaneous collection
of rules, customs, symbols and moral precepts, however valuable in
and of themselves, thrown together without order or design, could
have attracted the attention among intelligent men that Freemasonry
has done in all ages in which it is known. Surely unity must
somewhere exist in the great variety which we find in the Masonic
system.

A little study will reveal to us that the great, vital, underlying
idea, sought to be inculcated by the several degrees considered
collectively and which runs entirely through the system, is to give
an allegorical or symbolical representation of human existence, not
only here but hereafter, and to point the way which leads to the
greatest good both in this life and in the life to come. Our
ceremonies and symbols, while beautiful and impressive in and of
themselves incidentally teaching valuable lessons of religion,
morality and industry, all cluster around and contribute to this
central idea. But it is only when we reflect upon them in relation
to this sublime allegory of human life that we are enabled to
comprehend them in the fullness of their beauty and grandeur. The
Masonic student, therefore, who has never caught this conception of
his subject has failed to grasp Freemasonry in its most instructive
and important aspect.

Endeavor, therefore, to get clearly in your minds the point I
emphasize and which I shall attempt to demonstrate, namely, that
every sign, every symbol and every ceremony in the First degree, in
addition to any primary signification it may have, is also designed
to illustrate allegorically some moral phase of human existence.
I have dwelt at length on this thought because I believe that it is
not otherwise possible adequately to explain any part of the
Masonic system.

INITIATION

Initiation is now as it has been for countless ages, employed as a
symbol of the birth and endless development of the human mind and
soul. The Entered Apprentice degree represents birth and the
preparatory stage of life, or in other words, youth; the Fellow
Craft represents the constructive stage, or manhood; the Master
Mason represents the reflecting stage, or old age, death, the
resurrection, and the everlasting life. This explanation of the
three degrees is briefly given in our lecture on the Three Steps
delineated on the Master's Carpet.

THE LODGE

Is it true that the lodge symbolically represents the world? I
might say to begin that some have thought the word "lodge" derived
from the Sanskrit word "loga," meaning the world. However this may
be, our monitors tell us that the form of a lodge is an "oblong
square" from East to West and between North and South, from earth
to heaven and from surface to center. This of course, if it means
anything, can mean nothing less than the entire known habitable
earth and Masonic scholars universally so interpret it. This
meaning was more manifest at the period when Freemasonry is
supposed to have had its origin, for the then known world living
around the shores of the Mediterranean sea was literally of the
form of an "oblong square." One doubting this may consult any map
of the ancient world.

Dudley, in his Naology, says that the idea that the earth was a
level surface and of a square form may be justly supposed to have
prevailed generally in the early ages of the world. It is certain
that down to a comparatively recent date it was believed that
beyond a certain limit northward life was impossible because of the
darkness and cold, and likewise that beyond a certain limit
southward it was impossible because of the blinding glare and
intense heat of the sun. It was even supposed that in the farthest
South the earth was yet molten. The biblical idea was that the
earth was square. Isaiah (xi, 12) speaks of gathering "the
dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth," and in the
Apocalypse (xx, 9) in the vision of "four angels standing on the
four corners of the earth."

So thoroughly grounded were these beliefs that in ancient times the
"square," now the recognized symbol of the lodge, was the
recognized symbol of the earth, as the circle was of the sun. In
this antiquated expression "oblong square," we therefore have not
only an apt description of the ancient world and evidence that the
lodge is symbolical thereof, (1) but also a remarkable evidence of
the great age of Freemasonry. It tends strongly to date our
institution back to the time when the human mind conceived the
earth to be a plane surface and was ignorant of its spherical
character.

Likewise the lodge, which is sometimes defined as "the place where
Masons work," symbolizes the world or the place where all men work.
Again, its covering is said to be a cloudy canopy or starry decked
heaven, a description that could have not the slightest application
to anything else but the world.

If the lodge symbolizes the world and the Mason symbolizes man, it
follows that initiation must symbolize the introduction of the
individual into the world, or the birth of the child. It was so
regarded in the ancient systems of initiation and is now so
understood by Masonic scholars everywhere. It is the least
important view to consider it merely as the method of admitting one
to membership in a Society.

PREPARATION

The preparation of the candidate and the plight in which he is
admitted an Entered Apprentice strikingly typifies the helpless,
destitute, blind and ignorant condition of the newly born babe. But
initiation means more than this; by all the authorities it is
agreed to be a symbolical representation of the process by which
not only the child had been brought into existence and educated
into a scholarly and refined man but that by which the race has
been brought out of savagery and barbarism into civilization.
D....., neither n..... nor c ....., b...... nor s......, w.....
c...... t....., fittingly typifies the barbaric, not to say savage,
state in which man originally moved when he knew not the use of
metals and out of which he has been brought to his present
condition. It is precisely this that has led to the application of
the term "barbarians" to the uninitiated. On this point I quote
Brother Albert Pike, again; he says:

"In that preparation of the candidate which symbolizes the
condition of the Aryan race especially in its infancy, he is
deprived of all m ...... and m......, because their use was not
known to the earliest men; that he is n ....... nor c ......
represents the condition of the race when there were no
manufacturers and the fabrics of the loom were unknown, when men
dressed in the skins of animals, and, when the heat made these a
burden, were hardly clothed at all. That he is b....... represents
their blindness of ignorance, even of the most useful arts, and
although of divine truths; and that in which the number 3 appears,
the c..... t......... three times around the ..... the bonds in
which they were held of their sensual appetites, their passions
that were their masters, anger, revenge, hatred, and all the evil
kindred of these; and their superstitious fears."

A little study and reflection will show that every Masonic symbol
has an apt application not only to the moral and intellectual life
history of the individual but also to that of the race considered
collectively. Biologists tell us that this parallel between the
individual and the race holds good in the material realm and that
in the physical growth and development of every child from the
moment of its conception till it is a fully grown man, there is
epitomized the history of the evolutionary development of the race
through all the ages that have passed. However this may be, it is
certain that an exact parallel does exist between the moral and
intellectual growth of the child and the process which history
indicates the race as a whole has passed through.

TOOL SYMBOLS

One of the things first noticed in the Entered Apprentice degree
and continued throughout all the degrees is the employment of the
tools of the operative Mason, as emblems of moralalities. This
peculiarity of Freemasonry is well known even outsiders.

Brother George Fleming Moore, editor of the New Age and Sovereign
Grand Commander, A. and A. S. Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, declares
that it is clear that the ancient Chinese philosophers used our
present Masonic symbols "in almost precisely same sense in which
they are used by us in modern Freemasonry." (2)

The tools with which men labor are not inappropriate for use as
moral symbols, they are neither humble nor trivial. They are worthy
emblems of the highest and noblest virtues. Tools have performed an
astonishing part in civilizing and enlightening mankind. They are
one of the few things that distinctly mark man as immeasurably
superior to the other animals. Some scientists have even contended
that it is alone man's ability to fashion and use tools that has
raised him above the level of the brute creation. But radical as
this view must be, it can not be denied by any thoughtful man that
the use of tools has been one of the chief instrumentalities in all
human progress, not only material but mental and spiritual. Without
tools we could not till the soil, or work the mines, or reduce the
metal; we could enjoy only the rudest shelters; and all the
creations of art which appeal to our spiritual natures would be
impossible. The very stages of human advancement are named from the
character of the tools that were employed during them; thus, the
Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age.

Scientists suppose the first great achievement of man in his
progress from savagery to civilization to have been the development
of articulate speech; the second, the discovery of the uses of
fire; the third, they believe to have been the invention of a tool,
namely, the bow and arrow. Pottery, another class of utensils, they
hold to have been the fourth; the domestication of animals, the
fifth; and the discovery of the manufacture and use of iron, the
sixth. The seventh was the art of writing which also involved the
use of a tool. Thus we see that four of the epoch making strides of
savage and barbaric man had to do with the use of tools.

With civilized man, the case has been even more striking. His first
four great discoveries or inventions were gun-powder, the mariner's
compass, the manufacture of paper, and the printing press. The
fifth was the demonstration by Copernicus (1530) that the earth
revolved on an axis and that the sun did not daily make a circuit
around her. The next in order was the steam engine and machines for
weaving and spinning. Lastly, we may name machines for generating
and utilizing the boundless possibilities of electricity. We might
also mention in this connection the gasoline engine. We will not
count the flying machine whose value as a civilizing agent is yet
to be demonstrated. Thus we see of civilized man, according to the
highest authories, seven of his eight great and distinctive
achievements have been the invention and use of new tools. And it
must be remembered that the eighth, the discovery of Copernicus,
was rendered possible only through the use of another tool. To the
Palmist the heavens declared the glory of God's handiwork, but a
thousand times more solemnly and impressively do they now disclose
it through the medium of the telescope. It was nothing less than an
inspiration that prompted our ancient brethren to symbolize the
tools with which they produced those creations of art and
architecture whose sight causes our breasts to heave with the
highest emotions of which we are capable.

Professor Henry Smith Williams, (3) after pointing out the many
material advantages involved in the use of tools, says that we must
not "overlook the aesthetic influence of edged implements."

And then what must be said of the tools that make our music? If
there is a glimpse of heaven obtainable on earth, it is in the
wonderful art made possible through our marvelous musical
instruments.

How our various working tools acquired the particular symbolical
meanings we now attach to them we know not. In some instances we
know that they have borne them for ages.

At any rate, it is with peculiar fitness that the material tools,
which contribute so essentially to the building and the beautifying
of the material structure, should be made to symbolize those
virtues which are so essential to the building and beautifying of
human character, that moral and spiritual building not reared with
hands.

MODESTY OF TRUE CHARACTER

We are told that in the building of Solomon's Temple there was not
heard the sound of any tool of iron. It is a well authenticated
historical fact that the Jews, not to mention other ancient
peoples, believed that an iron tool was polluting to an altar to
Deity. Hence, in the days of Moses, the laws prescribed that in
erecting an altar of stone to Jehovah no iron tool should be
employed upon it. The work of erecting the Temple, therefore, went
on noiselessly but with speed and perfection.

This tradition, besides being borne out by the known facts of
Hebrew history, has a beautiful symbolism. It is this: the erection
and adornment of the moral and spiritual temple in which we are
engaged, that of human character, and of which Solomon's was
typical, is not characterized by the clang of noisy tools. About
true character building there is nothing of bluster and show; it is
a silent, noiseless process. It is the emptiest tub that makes the
greatest noise. Whenever you see the front pages of the newspapers
constantly filled with the interviews of some man or when you see
him constantly struggling to get into the lime-light, you may rest
assured that back of it all is not the highest type of character.
It is certain that there is present vanity; it is probable that
there is back of it selfishness and a sinister purpose. Beware of
the self-advertiser and "head-liner." The greatest characters in
the world's history have been men of modesty; their deeds, not
their words, have silently spoken for them.

CABLE-TOW

The candidate is early introduced to the Cable-Tow. We have seen
that his introduction into the E.A. lodge is symbolical of birth.
Among the Hindus, the Brahmans wear a sacred cord symbolizing the
second birth which they profess. The Cable-Tow thus has in Masonry
what we might term its primary allusion. It has, however, a deeper
symbolism. The word is not found in most of our dictionaries; it is
characteristically Masonic. Its obvious literal meaning is the
cable or cord by which something is towed or drawn. Hence with the
greatest aptness it represents those forces and influences which
have conducted not only the individual, but the human race out of
a condition of ignorance and darkness into one of light and
knowledge. With symbolical meanings of this kind the cord seems to
have been employed in many, if not all, of the ancient systems of
initiation. The explanation of this paraphernalia given in our
lecture is its least important meaning.

DISCALCEATION

It is very true that the plucking off of one's shoes is an ancient
Israelitish custom adopted among Masons. It was employed among the
Jews as a pledge of fidelity of one man to another. Such is the
symbolism of it in the Entered Apprentice degree. It has another
meaning with which we are not concerned here, but which is brought
out in the Master's degree.

CIRCUMAMBULATION

A certain ceremony, the candidate is told, was intended to signify
to him that "at a time when he could neither foresee nor prevent
danger he was in the hands of a true and trusty friend in whose
fidelity he could with safety confide." This has a literal meaning
very applicable to the candidate's then condition, but if we regard
the candidate as we should, as man pursuing the journey of life,
the symbolical signification of this ceremony becomes truly
profound. We all grope in the dark from the moment we are born till
we are laid upon the bier. The candidate is no more oblivious to
his way than is every man in this life to what is before him. In
our moments of apparently greatest security we often to our
astonishment find that we are in the very presence of death. The
sinking of the Titanic or the Lusitania was but one of thousands of
proofs of this truth. The winds, the lightnings, the floods and the
fires destroy us without warning. With all our boasted wisdom and
foresight we can not see an inch into the future. But every man is
in the hands of a true and trusty friend in whose fidelity he can
with safety confide. He needs but do his part to the best he knows
and may then rest confident that our All-Father will take care of
the results in a manner befitting an all wise and all loving
Creator.

UPRIGHT

In eastern countries (and formerly in western countries) the
inferior approaches the superior, the servant the Master, the
subject the sovereign, in an abased or groveling manner, oftentimes
with the face averted as though it were insolence to look directly
upon the august presence. Not so in Masonry; the candidate is
taught to approach the East, with his face to the front, walking
erect as a man should walk. This attitude is one of the
characteristics that distinguish man from the other animals. A few
can feebly imitate it, but only on occasion and then haltingly.
Nothing adds more to a man's self-respect and strength of character
than to walk erect, holding the head well up and looking the world
and every man squarely in the face., You may experience a feeling
of sorrow or sympathy for the man who appears before you with a
cringing or abject bearing, but with this feeling there is mingled
contempt. This idea we have turned into a terse though vulgar
apothegm, "Hold your head up if you die hard." We promptly suspect
the integrity of the man who can not look us squarely in the eye.

Freemasonry teaches that all men are and of right ought to be free;
that, therefore, no man should abase or humiliate himself before
another. But this manly, erect attitude which the candidate is
taught to assume has the same symbolism as the plumb. It teaches
that we should always walk upright in our several stations before
God and man.

THE BIBLE

The Bible is one of the Great Lights, one of the Furniture, and
rests upon the top of the Two Parallel Lines. No lodge should be
opened without its presence. Still it is but a symbol; it
represents divine truth in every form, whether in the form of the
written word, or in that referred to by the psalmist when he says:

"The Heavens declare the glory of God; 
And the firmament showeth his handiwork. 
Day unto day uttereth speech, 
And night unto night showeth knowledge." 
--Ps. 19, 1.

But the shadow must not be mistaken for the substance. There is
nothing sacred or holy in the mere book. It is only ordinary paper,
leather, and ink. Its workmanship may be much inferior to that of
other books. It is what it typifies that renders it sacred to us.
Any other book having the same signification would do just as well.
For this reason the Hebrew Mason may with perfect propriety use the
Old Testament alone, or the Mohammedan may, as has been done,
employ the Koran in his lodge. In fact that book should be used
which to the individual in question most fully represents divine
truth.

APRON

We are told that the lambskin or white leather apron, the badge of
a Mason, is "more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle,
more honorable than the Star and Garter." This sounds a little
bombastic, we must admit, yet it is literally true. The order of
the Golden Fleece, which is here referred to, had its origin in
A.D. 1429; the Roman Eagle, which was Rome's ensign of imperial
power, became distinctively such, according to Pliny, no earlier
than the second consulship of Gaius Marius or about 105 years B.C.
On the other hand, it is certain that the apron was worn as a badge
of honor or sanctity more than a thousand years before Christ. The
Garter is confessedly the most illustrious order of Knighthood in
England, and is historically identified with the chivalry of the
Middle Ages. But for this very reason, it like all the other orders
of chivalric knighthood, was, as has been said by high authority,
George Gordon Coulton, (4) "hampered by the limitations of medieval
society." Edward A. Freeman, the great English historian, who has
perhaps most nearly defined the spirit and influence of knighthood,
says: 

"The chivalrous spirit is above all things a class spirit. The good
knight is bound to endless fantastic courtesies towards men and
still more towards women of a certain rank; he may treat all below
that rank with any degree of scorn and cruelty. The spirit of
chivalry implies the arbitrary choice of one or two virtues to be
practised in such an exaggerated degree as to become vices, while
the ordinary laws of right and wrong are forgotten. The false code
of honor supplants the laws of the commonwealth the law of God and
the eternal principles. Chivalry again in its military aspect not
only encourages the love of war for its own sake without regard to
the cause for which war is waged, it encourages also an extravagant
regard for a fantastic show of personal daring which can not in any
way advance the siege or campaign which is going on. Chivalry in
short is in morals very much what feudalism is in law. Each
substitutes purely personal obligations devised in the interests of
an exclusive class, for the more homely duties of an honest man and
a good citizen." (5)

This view presents knighthood as the very antithesis of
Freemasonry.

F. W. Cornish presents a somewhat brighter picture of knighthood
but says, "Against these (virtues) may be set the vices of pride,
ostentation, love of bloodshed, contempt of inferiors, and loose
manners."

But whether we take the one or the other view, Freeman or Cornish,
chivalry will not bear comparison with Freemasonry in the nobility
of its principles. Let us set against the pictures of Freeman and
Cornish the things which Freemasonry stands for. It is in theory at
least a vast school urging the study of the liberal arts and
sciences which tend to broaden, strengthen and enlighten the mind.
But it is much more than this; it is a great society of friends and
brothers teaching by precept, and let us hope by example, all those
mental and moral virtues which make and adorn character and prepare
us to enjoy the blessings not only of this life but of that which
is to come. Let me enumerate some of the things that are taught and
by ceremonies peculiar to Freemasonry, are impressed upon the minds
and hearts of its initiates. A belief in Deity; the service of God;
gratitude for his blessings; reverence and adoration for his holy
name; veneration for his word; the duty and efficacy of prayer; the
invocation of his aid in every laudable undertaking; faith in Him;
hope in immortality; charity to all mankind; the relief of the
distressed, particularly the brethren and their families; the
cultivation of brotherly love and the protection of the good name
of a brother and that of his family and the sanctity of his female
relatives; the adornment of the mind and heart; purity of life and
rectitude of conduct; the curbing of our desires and passions;
living in conformity to the "Great Books" of Nature and Revelation;
the practice of temperance, fortitude, prudence and justice; the
cultivation of habits of patience and perseverance; the eschewing
of profanity; love for and loyalty to country; devotion and
fidelity to trust; the beauty of holiness; the maintenance of
secrecy; the observance of caution; the recognization of real
merit; the contemplation of wisdom; admiration for strength of body
and character; the love of the beautiful in nature and art; the
observance of the Sabbath; the promotion of peace and unity of the
brethren; the preservation of liberty of thought, conscience,
speech and action; equality before God and the law; the cultivation
of habits of industry; the certainty of retributive justice; the
brevity and uncertainty of this life; the contemplation of death;
the resurrection of the body and life everlasting after death to
those who love God and his creatures and observe his laws. All of
these and others I am not privileged to mention here are taught
every candidate and are impressed upon his mind by peculiar
ceremonies which constitute a part of the secret arcana of the
lodge.

Do you say that all these things may be learned elsewhere with
equal thoroughness and equal ease, and that Masonry is therefore,
a useless institution?

I maintain not. The fact that the institution has lived and
flourished for so long a period and that it is today more powerful
in its influence and more general in its dissemination than ever
before proves not. It approaches the mind and heart from a
direction that enables it to reach and grapple many men whom no
other influence can reach, while at the same time it doubles and
multiplies many times the power for good of those whom other
influences do reach.

Is it, therefore, any exaggeration to say that Freemasonry is more
ancient than the Golden Fleece and more honorable than the Star and
Garter, or any other order that can be conferred upon its initiate
by king, prince, or potentate ?

DEFINITION OF LODGE

We are told that a lodge is a certain number of Masons duly
assembled with the Holy Bible, square and compasses. These three
properties should indeed always be present but to the existence of
a lodge in its highest sense it is more necessary that there should
be present what they symbolize, namely: Truth, Virtue and
Self-restraint. Without these there may be the semblance of but no
real lodge. Bible, square and compasses should be displayed in
every opened lodge, not chiefly for their own sake but for what
they represent.

HIGH HILLS AND LOW VALES

We are told that our ancient brethren usually held their lodges on
high hills or in low vales. This allusion to this antiquated custom
is another hoary lock upon the brow of our symbolism. The
explanation given is a very simple and practical one, namely:
because they better lent themselves to purposes of secrecy. But
there is another and deeper reason. Whatever may be the
explanation, it is clear that from the remotest times hills and
valleys have been peculiarly venerated by mankind. On the "High
Places" the Jews and their neighbors worshipped God; the glens and
dales our imagination has populated with the charming "Little
People," the sprites and fairies of mythology and our nursery
tales. The beauty spots of earth are where mountains and valleys
succeed each other in greatest profusion. These are they that in
all ages have testified to the majesty and glory of God and stirred
our imaginations and inspired our poets. (6)

WISDOM, STRENGTH AND BEAUTY

We are told in our Monitors that our institution is supported by
three great pillars, Wisdom, Strength and Beauty, because there
should be wisdom to contrive, strength to support, and beauty to
adorn all great and important undertakings. The lodge whose members
are characterized by wisdom to plan with judgment, strength to
resist evil tendencies and influences, and by the beauty of
brotherly love and charity is sure to prosper. Nothing more is
needed to give it success. Truly may it be said that these three
attributes support our institution and with equal truth may it be
said that they support all other institutions and creations.

Infinite wisdom planned and formed this universe, omnipotent
strength hurls the sun, the earth, the moon, the stars through
space at speeds we can not conceive, and yet holds each in its
accustomed orbit with such inerrancy that astronomers can now
calculate the position of each thousands of years hence, while a
beauty which poets have for ages in vain attempted to express
completes the work. In short, wisdom, strength and beauty sum up
the universe in three words.

Wisdom, strength and beauty make a perfect building. There must be
wisdom to plan and execute; this gives to the structure convenience
and utility. There must be strength to support; this gives to the
building firmness and durability. There must be beauty to adorn;
this gives that which pleases and appeals to man's moral and
aesthetic taste. There may be wisdom and strength but without
beauty the result is, as has been truly observed, mere construction
or at most a piece of engineering. It may be admirable, even
wonderful, but without beauty it is not architecture. There may be
beauty, but if there is not wisdom of plan and execution and
strength to resist the processes of decay the result is a
disappointment. Who, that visited the Chicago Exposition in 1893
and viewed that dream of beauty, was not saddened by the thought
that there was no strength there? These three essential elements of
architecture, Vitruvius, the noted architect who flourished shortly
before Christ, enumerates as Firmitas, Utilitas, Venustas, which is
to say stability, utility and beauty. (7)

So of man. Wisdom, Strength and Beauty make a perfect man. How
often have we said with a sigh "that is a beautiful woman," or
"that man is a beautiful character, but there is neither wisdom nor
strength." This beauty may be so great as to be lovely or be even
admirable but there is not perfection. 

On the other hand, how sad, how inexpressibly sad, when we behold
a man with a great mind and a great body and yet no beauty of
character; a soul in which there is selfishness instead of
sympathy, cruelty instead of kindness, hate and bitterness instead
of love and charity. When to beauty of heart and person and
character you add wisdom to plan and strength to execute, weighing
down all evil opposition, we have what may truly be called "the
noblest work of God." Nothing can be added to wisdom, strength and
beauty in either a building or in a man, unless it be more wisdom,
more strength and greater beauty.

Wisdom and Beauty early become subjects of philosophical study and
disquisition. Among the Greeks, "Wisdom" was regarded as the
knowledge of the cause and origin of things; among the Jews, it was
regarded as knowing how to live in order to get the greatest
possible good out of this life. Neither Greek nor Hebrew philosophy
seems to have concerned itself greatly about a future life. This
subject was productive among the Jews of the "Book of Wisdom,"
which has been pronounced by Dr. Crawford H. Toy, as "the most
brilliant production of preChristian Hebrew philosophical thought."
The Greeks boasted a vast body of "Wisdom literature," as it is
called. So, Beauty gave rise to a body of philosophical thought
called Aesthetics. The earliest writers on this subject, as on so
many others, were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Socrates thought
it resolvable into the useful and as not existing independently of
a percipient mind. Plato took the contrary view on each point.
Aristotle made great advance on both and defined certain essential
elements of beauty which have since been generally accepted. All
agree that the purest of our pleasures arise from the contemplation
of the beautiful and that the effect is chastening and elevating.
Freemasonry combines this philosophy with both the Greek and the
Hebrew ideas of Wisdom, as a topic worthy of philosophical study.
With us, as we shall see in the third degree, the conception of
Wisdom is extended beyond what either the Greek or Hebrews
understood it and embraces the search for knowledge of the future.

Strength was greatly prized by the Jews, as well as the Greeks and
Romans, and among them was regarded as one of the attributes of
Deity. Both Samuel and Joel acclaim Jehovah as the Strength of
Israel. Job (xii, 13) declares "With him is wisdom and strength,"
while David (Ps. xcvi, 6) sings "Strength and beauty are in his
sanctuary." But the Preacher (Ec. ix, 16) with a truer appreciation
declares that "wisdom is better than strength." Examples could be
multiplied indefinitely from the old Bible of the high esteem in
which the Jews held these three Masonic qualities.

THE COVERING OF THE LODGE

The covering of the lodge is said to be a clouded canopy or
starry-decked heaven. The appropriateness of this symbol is
striking when we regard the lodge as emblematic of the world, for
such is literally at all times the covering of the earth. Equally
true, in the literal sense, was this description when lodges were
held in the open air, as we are assured and as seems probable they
were. In the earliest temples erected by man for the worship of God
there was no loof, the only covering being the sky. As to them also
this description holds good. This fact may give additional point
and meaning to the statement that our lodges extend from earth to
heaven. Later when temples were covered and our lodges began to be
held in closed rooms it was customary to decorate the ceiling with
a blue canopy spangled with stars. This starry-decked heaven, when
now exhibited in our lodge rooms, either on the ceiling or on our
charts, or master's carpets, is obviously reminiscent of the real
canopy of heaven with which anciently our lodges were in fact
covered, and is symbolical of that abode of the blessed which is
universally regarded as located in the sky. (8)

THE ORNAMENTS OF THE LODGE

The ornaments of the lodge are the Mosaic pavement, the indented
tessel and the blazing star; that is to say its floor, the margin
thereof, and the stars with which its ceiling are or should be
decorated. Does this symbolism hold good when applied to the earth?
It does most perfectly. To the beholder the visible part of the
earth appears as surface, horizon and sky. The surface of the
earth, if viewed from above chequered with fields and forests,
mountains and plains, hills and valleys, land and waters, would be
found to look very much like a pavement of Mosaic work. A few miles
up it would seem almost as delicate. The horizon, that mysterious
region that separates land and sky, earth and heaven, where the
heavenly bodies appear and disappear, with its inexpressible charms
and numberless beauties, has in all ages been a source of mystery
and inspiration to the poets. It is fitly typified by the splendid
borders which surround the floors of some of our most magnificent
buildings and which is fabled to have surrounded the floor of
Solomon's Temple, while the firmament above studded with stars by
night and the blazing sun by day complete the ornamental scheme of
the earth. The surface, the horizon, the firmament embrace all of
visible beauty of Nature there is, and they have never yet been
exhausted by poet, painter or singer.

THE THREE GREAT LIGHTS

If we read discerningly the explanation given of these in our
lectures and ceremonies we must perceive that they symbolize,
respectively: (1) The Bible, the word of God, not merely that
disclosed in his revealed word, but including, also the knowledge
which we acquire from the great book of Nature; (2) the square
typifies the rule of right conduct, and (3) the compasses is an
emblem of that self-restraint which enables us on all occasions to
act according to this rule of right. Beyond a perfect knowledge of
God's word and therefore of the rule of right living nothing is
needed to make the perfect man except a perfect self-restraint.


THE THREE LESSER LIGHTS

Equally appropriate is the symbolism of the Three Lesser Lights. It
was literally true to our ancient operative brethren that from the
Sun and Moon they obtained all that natural light which rendered
possible those great architectural creations, some of which still
remain as perpetual sources of wonder and delight. But all this
skill must have quickly perished from the earth had not the Master
communicated to the Apprentice from generation to generation the
mental illumination which kept alive the knowledge of architecture.
Thus literally were the Sun, Moon and Worshipful Master lights to
our ancient operative brethren. But as a knowledge of architecture
is less than knowledge of God; as the correct rule of building is
less than the correct rule of living; as the restraints imposed
upon the structure is less important than the restraint imposed
upon one's self, so are the Sun, Moon and Worshipful Master less
important lights than are the Bible, square and compasses, when
rightly understood.

To the untutored mind the sun was the most striking object in
nature. His daily march across the heavens must to those, who did
not know that his motion was only apparent, have been far more
impressive than to us. Add to these his enlightening and
fructifying influences, which must have been apparent to man even
in his rudest stages of development, and we are not surprised that
the orb of day became in all countries an object of worship. The
point of his daily appearance, the East; his station at the mid-day
hour, the South; the quarter of his disappearance at night, the
West, could not fail to become objects of special significances. He
seemed to shun the North, whence it became in popular opinion a
place of darkness. It is obvious that conceptions like these belong
to the past age and yet they contribute to the completion of that
allegory of the world and human life which we know as Freemasonry.

Of scarcely less interest to man in all ages have been the Moon and
the stars; little less striking and even more beautiful are they.
The glorious orbs of day and night have not yet lost their power to
stir thoughts of divinity in the human mind, as witness Joseph
Addison's beautiful words:

"The spacious firmament on high 
With all the blue ethereal sky 
And spangled heavens, a shining frame, 
Their Great Original proclaim. 
The unwearied sun from day to day, 
Does his Creator's power display 
And publishes to every land, 
The work of an almighty hand.

Soon as the evening shades prevail
The moon takes up the wondrous tale
And nightly, to the listening earth,
Repeats the story of her birth;
While all the stars that round her burn
And all the planets in their turn
Confirm the tidings as they roll
And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence all 
Move round the dark terrestrial ball ? 
What though no real voice nor sound 
Amid the radiant orbs be found? 
In reason's ear they all rejoice 
And utter forth a glorious voice; 
Forever singing as they shine 
The hand that made us is divine."

There are said to be three lights in the lodge, one in the South,
one in the West, and one in the East. There is said to be none in
the North and that hence it is called a place of darkness. Applied
to our ordinary lodge rooms this is meaningless, but applied to the
world, as the ancients knew it, and of which as we have seen, the
lodge is emblematic, it has a charming symbolism. It alludes to the
fact that to persons living in the northern hemisphere, (where all
the civilized people of antiquity dwelt,) the Sun each day appears
in the East, ascends to the zenith in the South where he seems to
become stationary for a short space, and thence descends and
disappears in the West. The East, South and West seem, therefore,
to be his stations; he never attains the North. The ancients
supposed the South to be a region of intense heat and blinding
light and the extreme North to be a region of perpetual darkness.
We have in this symbol, therefore, a reflection of these primeval
conceptions of mankind concerning the world.

SITUATION OF THE LODGE

The situation of lodges due east and west is not at all peculiar to
Freemasonry. In ancient times the custom was well nigh universal to
locate sacred edifices east and west. This is why the Tabernacle
and Solomon's Temple were so situated. This old idea of
orientation, as it is called, is practically lost except among
Masons. We preserve it in theory even though necessity often
compels us to depart from it in practice. The parallel between the
lodge and the world holds good here as elsewhere. As the lodge is
or should be situated east and west, so in ancient times was the
world. The "oblong square" which made up the ancient world had its
greatest length east and west.

JACOB'S LADDER

The ladder is, of course, a familiar implement to the builder. It
was in constant use by our ancient operative brethren. In a system
where working tools are made to symbolize moral properties, it
could scarcely happen otherwise than that the ladder would be made
to typify the power or means by which man is lifted or attains to
a higher state of existence. It was employed always with the same
meaning in the Ancient Mysteries and was a familiar symbol of
salvation long before Jacob in his vision saw it extending from
earth to heaven. We, as did the ancients, ascribe to it seven
rungs, symbolical with us of the four cardinal and the three
theological virtues by which it was supposed a man was prepared for
and elevated to the higher state.

CARDINAL VIRTUES

The cardinal virtues mean simply the pre-eminent or principal
virtues. They were declared by Socrates and Plato 400 years before
Christ, as they are by us today, to be Temperance, Fortitude,
Prudence and Justice. This list has been criticized as being
arbitrary, as not covering the entire field, and as overlapping
each other. In the light of the broadening influence of modern
ethical and religious ideas the justice of these criticisms must be
conceded. But reflection will disclose to us that these four
virtues cover a surprisingly large part of the moral realm of human
life.

Temperance means moderation not only in drink but in diet, not only
in diet but in action, not only in action but in speech, not only
in speech but in thought, not only in thought but in feeling.

Fortitude implies, it is true, a physical bravery that leads one to
resist insult or attack with force, but more especially that moral
courage that enables one at the risk of incurring the sneers of
others, to refrain from a resort to violence except where the
necessity is imperative. When, however, this necessity arises it is
not deterred by pain or circumstance be it ever so appalling or
threatening.

Prudence as the critics have pointed out, enters to some extent
into the last named virtue. It signifies also to meet every
situation, however dangerous or difficult, with common sense and
reason. It is a virtue which is lacking in a surprising large
proportion of the human race.

Little need be added to what is said of the virtue of Justice in
our monitors. It is truly the "very cement and support of civil
society." This conception of justice evidences a distinct advance
by mankind. To be able and willing to mete out exact justice to
every one, even one's self, in every relation of life, in thought,
word and action, very nearly sums up the total of all possible
human virtue. In a system of moral philosophy, such as Plato's (as
distinguished from a religious philosophy such as we now have,)
justice very nearly covers the whole field. (9)

What a multitude of evils and mistakes the full possession and
practice of these virtues would enable us to avoid!

But with the birth and development of theology the Platonic scheme
seemed and doubtless was incomplete. It took little or no account
of those higher speculative virtues which we class as religious.
There was absent from it the conception of that charity or love
which has entered so largely into modern sociological thoughts and
movements. The later philosophical and religious teachers,
therefore, added to the cardinal virtues what they termed the
theological virtues, namely, Faith, Hope and Charity. These three
were believed to include anything omitted from the other four, and
together were supposed to cover the entire field of the moral
thought and conduct of man.

CHALK, CHARCOAL, AND CLAY

We are told that Entered Apprentices should serve their Masters
with Freedom, Fervency and Zeal; with freedom, in that it should be
done freely and without constraint as becomes a free man, not
grudgingly and hesitatingly as characterizes the slave; with
fervency and zeal, these terms are synonymous, one is from the
Latin ferveo, to boil, while the other is from the -- Greek zeo,
meaning the same. I have been unable to find that chalk, charcoal
or clay, anciently bore any symbolic significations. It must,
however, be admitted that chalk is a fitting symbol of freedom,
charcoal of fervency, and earth of zeal.

NORTH EAST CORNER 

From the most ancient times it has been the custom of builders to
lay with ceremonies the corner-stone of important edifices. As it
was a custom of the ancients to orient their temples, that is to
make them face the east, so for some similar reason it was their
custom to lay the corner-stone in the northeast corner. Why this
particular part of the structure was chosen has been the subject of
much speculation. Some have attributed it to the fact that the
rising sun sheds its beams more-directly upon this corner of a
building situated due east and west than upon either of the other
corners. But many have supposed (and no doubt truly) that a
symbolical reason existed for this custom. This also has given rise
to further speculation and as a specimen I introduce this
interesting conjecture by General Albert Pike:

"The apprentice represents the Aryan race in its original home on
the highlands of Pamir, in the north of that Asia termed Orient, at
the angle whence, upon two great lines of emigration south and
west, they flowed forth in successive waves to conquer and colonize
the world."

As speculative Masonry gradually developed from operative Masonry,
it preserved this ceremony of laying the corner-stone, because of
the moral and religious symbolism which seems always to have
pertained to it. With the operative it was a serious part of the
actual process of building; with us its chief value lies in its
symbolical significations.

As placing the newly made Entered Apprentice in the northeast
corner of the lodge marks the completion of his initiation, so it
symbolizes the completion of the preparatory period of life and his
readiness to enter upon its serious labors and business. The
admonition there given him is, that having made proper moral
preparation for life, his future activities should be kept in
accord with the teaching and training he had received in his youth.

This, my brethren, briefly reviews the symbolical teachings of the
ceremonies of initiation. As said at the outset I have barely
touched upon them. Any one of them would be sufficient of itself to
occupy a whole evening. I could easily consume another hour talking
to you about the symbolical teachings of the Entered Apprentice
lesson without exhausting it. Let me illustrate with a single
question and answer and I am done.

"WHENCE CAME YOU ?"

Daily this question is asked by Masons without the slightest
thought as to its real meaning. It is fitting that the answer we
make to it in the lodge is well nigh unintelligible, for it is
about as intelligible as any ever given it or as probably will be
given it. Who can answer the question "Whence came you?" Who has
ever answered it? Who will ever answer it? Equally baffling and
profound is that companion question, familiar in some
jurisdictions, "Whither are you bound?" Equally an enigma is the
answer we give it. Simple as these questions appear, they search
every nook and cranny and sound every depth of every philosophy,
every mythology, every theology, and every religion that has ever
been propounded anywhere by anybody at any time to explain human
life. They allude to the problems of the origin and destiny of
mankind; they lie at the foundation of all the thinking and of all
the activities of man except such as are concerned with the purely
utilitarian question "What shall we eat and wherewithal shall we be
clothed?" All our better impulses, all our loftier aspirations, all
our faiths, all our longing for and striving after a nobler state
of existence, either in this or a future life, are but attempts to
answer these two questions. They are the supreme questions which
men have been asking themselves and each other ever since men were
able to think and to talk, and they are the questions which men
will continue to ask oftenest and most anxiously until the time
when we are promised that we shall know even as we are known. It is
thus that study and reflection bring out the beauty and the
profound significance of the simplest of Masonic formulas.

(1) Univ. Cyc. Rome, vol. X.
(2) New Age, vol. XVII, p. 283.
(3) Enc. Brit., vol. VI, p. 404.
(4) Enc. Brit., vol. XV, p. 858.
(5) Norman Conquest, vol. V, p. 482.
(6) A.Q.C., vol. III, p. 21- U. M. L., Part II, p. 66; Orientation
Temples, p. 6.
(7) Enc. Brit., vol. II, p. 370.
(8) Morals and Dogma, pp. 235, 365; Mackey's Symbolism, pp. 102,
117; Hamlin's His. of Arch., p. 26; Steinbrenner, p. 150.
(9) Enc. Brit., vol. V, p. 324; Ibid, vol. 9, p. 813.


WORK

Let me do my work from day to day,
In field or forest, at the desk or loom,
In roaring market-place or tranquil room;
Let me but find it in my heart to say,
When vagrant wishes beckon me astray,
"This is my work--my blessing, not my doom;
"Of all who live, I am the one by whom 
"This work can best be done in the right way."

Then shall I see it not too great, nor small,
To suit my spirit and to prove my powers;
Then shall I cheerful greet the laboring hours, 
And cheerful turn when the long shadows fall 
At eventide, to play and love and rest, 
Because I know for me my work is best.
--Henry Van Dyke.
o

Knowledge is proud that he has learn'd so much;
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.
--Cowper.

