The symbolism of the second
degree essentially differs from that of the first. If the first
degree was typical of the period of youth, the second is emblematic
of the stage of manhood. Here new duties and increased obligations
to their performance press upon the individual. The lessons of
wisdom and virtue which he has received in youth, are now to produce
their active fruits; the talent which was lent, is now to be returned
with usury. Hence, as the Fellow Craft's degree is intended to
represent this thinking and working period of life, it necessarily
assumes a more important position in the Masonic scale, and is
invested with a more dignified ritual, and a more extensive series of
instructions. Here it is that the preparatory lessons which were
obtained in the first degree are to be enlarged and enforced. As
labor is the divinely appointed lot of man, in this degree the
rewards of industry are set forth in emblematic forms, and the
recipient is taught the exercise of diligence and industry, that by
the faithful performance of his task he may, in due time, be entitled
to the wages for which he has wrought.
But
man was not intended for physical labor only. There are more exalted
tasks to which the possession of mind has called him. Endowed by his
Creator with the possession of reason and intellect, it is his duty,
and should be his pleasure, to direct the vigor and energy of his
manhood to the cultivation of his reasoning faculties and the
improvement of his intellectual powers.
Hence,
the Fellow Craft's degree, as a type of this state of manhood, is
particularly devoted to science. The mind of the recipient is fixed,
by the nature of its ritual, upon the wonders of nature and art. The
attention is particularly directed to the liberal arts and sciences,
with whose principles the candidate is charged to become familiar,
that he may be enabled to occupy with honor to himself, and with
profit to his fellow-creatures, his allotted place in the great
structure of human society.
LECTURE.
The
lecture of the second degree is divided into two sections. While it
extends the plan of knowledge commenced in the lecture of the first
degree, it comprehends a more extensive system of learning, and
inculcates, in our peculiar method, the most important truths of
science.
FIRST SECTION.
The
first section of the second lecture accurately elucidates the mode of
initiation into this degree, and instructs the diligent craftsmen how
to proceed in the proper arrangement of the ceremonies used on the
occasion.
The
square, as a symbol, is peculiarly appropriated to this degree. It
is intended to teach the Fellow Craft that the square of morality and
virtue should be the rule and guide of his conduct in his
transactions with all mankind, but more especially
with brother Masons.
The
following passage of Scripture is introduced during the ceremonies:
“Thus
he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a
plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. And the Lord said unto
me, Amos, what seest thou? And I
said, a plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a
plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by
them any more. — Amos 7:7-8.
WORKING TOOLS.
The
Working Tools of a Fellow Craft are the Plumb, the Square,
and the Level.
The
Plumb is an instrument made use of by operative masons to
raise perpendiculars; the Square, to square their work; and
the Level, to lay horizontals; but we, as Free and Accepted
Masons, are taught to make use of them for more noble and glorious
purposes: the plumb admonishes us to walk uprightly in our several
stations, before God and men, squaring our actions by the square of
virtue, and remembering that we are traveling upon the level of time
to that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns.
THE PRECIOUS JEWELS OF A FELLOW CRAFT.
The
jewels of a Fellow Craft, like his working tools, and like every
other gift that he receives, are altogether of a symbolic nature.
They are lessons of instruction which derive their name of jewels
from the moral value that they possess. They teach the candidate
that the attentive ear receives the sound from the instructive
tongue, and the mysteries of Freemasonry are safely lodged in the
repository of a faithful breast.
SECOND SECTION.
The
second section of this degree refers to the combined operative and
speculative origin of the Institution; it details some interesting
features relative to the Temple of Solomon and the usages of our
ancient brethren, in the course of which the mind is drawn to the
contemplation of themes of science and philosophy.
The
connection between the operative art and the speculative science of
Masonry is the first point to which, in this section, the attention
of the candidate is directed. Something ought, therefore, to be here
said in reference to these two divisions.
Masonry,
in its character as an operative art, is familiar to every one. As
such, it is engaged in the application of the rules of architecture
to the construction of public and private edifices. It, of course,
abounds in the use of technical terms, and makes use of implements
and materials which are peculiar to itself. It is the popular
theory, that the operative Masons were the founders of the system of
speculative Masonry, in which they applied the language and ideas of
their art of building to a spiritual and religious sense. Hence
Speculative Masonry is nothing more nor less, in this aspect, than a
symbolization of Operative Masonry.
The
theory is (and it is not an untenable one), that at first operative
Masonry existed simply as an art of building. Then the operative
Masons, with the assistance of learned and pious men, invented the
speculative science, or Freemasonry, and then each became an
integrant part of one undivided system. Not, however, that there
ever was a time when every operative Mason, without exception, was
acquainted with or initiated into the speculative science. Even now
there are thousands of skillful stone-masons who know nothing of the
symbolic meaning of the implements they employ. But operative
Masonry was at first, and is even now, the skeleton upon which was
strung the nerves and muscles of the living system of Free or
Speculative Masonry.
Speculative
Masonry, now known as Freemasonry, is, therefore, the scientific
application and the religious consecration of the rules and
principles, the technical language and the implements and materials,
of operative Masonry to the worship of God as the Grand Architect of
the Universe, and to the purification of the heart and the
inculcation of the dogmas of a religious philosophy. And as the
original union of the operative and speculative branches of the
system is traditionally supposed to have taken place at the building
of the Temple of Jerusalem by King Solomon, more attention is paid in
the symbolism to that edifice than to any other.
OPERATIVE MASONRY.
We
work in Speculative Masonry, but our ancient brethren wrought in both
Operative and Speculative. They worked at the building of King
Solomon's Temple, and many other sacred and important 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, and whence will result a due proportion and a
just correspondence in all its parts. It furnishes us with
dwellings, and with convenient shelter from the vicissitudes and
inclemencies of the seasons; and while it displays the effects of
human wisdom, as well in the choice as in the arrangement of the
sundry materials of which an edifice is composed, it demonstrates
that a fund of science and industry is implanted in man for the best,
most salutary, and beneficent purposes.
SPECULATIVE MASONRY.
By
Speculative Masonry we learn to subdue the passions, act upon the
square, keep a tongue of good report, maintain secrecy, and practice
charity. It is so far interwoven with religion, as to lay us under
obligation to pay that rational homage to the Deity which at once
constitutes our duty and our happiness. It leads the contemplative
Mason to view, with reverence and admiration, the glorious works of
creation, and inspires him with the most exalted ideas of the
perfections of his Divine Creator.
In
six days God created the heavens and the earth, and rested upon the
seventh day; the seventh, therefore, our ancient brethren consecrated
as a day of rest from their labors; thereby enjoying frequent
opportunities to contemplate the glorious works of creation, and to
adore their great Creator.
THE PILLARS OF THE PORCH.
“For
he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece; and a
line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.” —
1 Kings 7:15.
“Also
he made before the
house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter
that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. — 2
Chronicles 3:15.
“And
he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the
pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the
height of the other chapiter was five cubits.” — 1
Kings 7:16.
The
height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon
it was brass: and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the
wreathen work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of
brass: and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work.
— 2 Kings 25:17.
The
discrepancy as to the height of the pillars as given in the book of
Kings and in Chronicles is to be reconciled by supposing that in the
book of Kings the pillars are spoken of separately, and that in
Chronicles their aggregate height is calculated; and the reason that
in this latter book their united height is placed at 35 cubits,
instead of 36, which would be the double of 18, is because they are
there measured as they appear with the chapiters upon them. Now half
a cubit of each pillar was concealed in what Dr. Lightfoot calls “the
hole of the chapiter,” that is, half a cubit's depth of the
lower edge of the chapiter covered the top of the pillar, making each
pillar apparently only 17.5 cubits high, or the two, 35 cubits, as
laid down in the book of Chronicles.
In
a similar way we reconcile the difference as to the height of the
chapiters. In 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles the chapiters are said to
be five cubits
high, while in 2 Kings their height is described as being only three
cubits. But it will be noticed that it immediately follows in
the same place, that “there was a wreathen work and
pomegranates upon the chapiter round about.” Now this
expression is conclusive that the height of the chapiters was
estimated exclusive and independent of the wreathen work round about
them, which was two cubits more, and this added to the three cubits
of the chapiter proper, will make the five cubits spoken of in all
other parts of Scripture.
[A
cubit was 21 inches. The height of each pillar in English measure
was 31 feet 6 inches, and its diameter 7 feet. The height of each
chapiter was 8 feet 9 inches, giving a total height of 40 feet 3
inches. The height of the shaft being only four diameters and a
half, the pillars bore no resemblance to any of the modern orders of
architecture, but were rather an imitation of the massive style of
the Egyptians, the lilies on the chapiters being probably an exact
copy of the lotus of the Nile, which wag a frequent ornamentation
among that people.]
SYMBOLS OF UNITY, PEACE, AND PLENTY.
Symbols
of Unity, Peace, and Plenty are here introduced and
explained.
THE GLOBES.
The
globes are two artificial spherical bodies, on the convex surfaces of
which are represented the countries, seas, and various parts of the
earth, the face of the heavens, the planetary revolutions, and other
particulars.
THE USE OF THE GLOBES.
Their
principal use, besides serving as maps to distinguish the outward
parts of the earth, and the situation of the fixed stars, is to
illustrate and explain the phenomena arising from the annual
revolution and the diurnal rotation, of the earth round its own axis.
They are the noblest instruments for improving the mind, and giving
it the most distinct idea of any problem or proposition, as well as
enabling it to solve the same. Contemplating these bodies, we are
inspired with a due reverence for the Deity and his works, and are
induced to encourage the studies of astronomy, geography, and
navigation, and the arts dependent on them, by which society has been
so much benefited.
Reference
is here made to the Masonic organization into three degrees—the
Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and the Master Mason—and
to its system of government by three officers—the Worshipful
Master, the Senior and Junior Wardens.
ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE.
The
five Orders of Architecture are next considered.
By
Order in Architecture is meant a system of all the members,
proportions, and ornaments of columns and pilasters; or it is a
regular arrangement of the projecting parts of a building, which,
united with those of a column, form a beautiful, perfect, and
complete whole.
ITS ANTIQUITY.
From
the first formation of society, Order in Architecture may be traced.
When the rigor of seasons obliged men to contrive shelter from the
inclemency of the weather, we learn that they first planted trees on
end, and then laid others across, to support a covering. The bands
which connected those trees at top and bottom are said to have given
rise to the idea of the base and capital of pillars; and from this
simple hint originally proceeded the more improved art of
architecture.
The
five orders are thus classed: the Ionic, Doric,
Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite.
THE IONIC.
Bears
a kind of mean proportion between the more solid and delicate orders.
Its column is nine diameters high, its capital is adorned with
volutes, and its cornice has dentals. There is both delicacy and
ingenuity displayed in this pillar, the invention of which is
attributed to the Ionians, as the famous temple of Diana at Ephesus
was of this order. It is said to have been formed after the model of
an agreeable young woman, of an elegant shape, dressed in her hair,
as a contrast to the Doric order, which was formed after that of a
strong, robust man.
THE DORIC.
Which
is plain and natural, is the most ancient, and was invented by the
Greeks. Its column is eight diameters high, and has seldom any
ornaments on base or capital, except moldings, though the frieze is
distinguished by triglyphs and metopes, and triglyphs compose the
ornaments of the frieze.
The
Doric is the best proportioned of all the orders. The several parts
of which it is composed are founded on the natural position of solid
bodies. In its first invention it was more simple than in its
present state. In after times, when it began to be adorned, it
gained the name of Doric; for when it was constructed in its
primitive and simple form, the name of Tuscan was conferred on it.
Hence the Tuscan precedes the Doric in rank, on account of its
resemblance to that pillar in its original state.
THE CORINTHIAN.
The
richest of the five orders, is deemed a masterpiece of art. Its
column is ten diameters high, and its capital is adorned with two
rows of leaves and eight volutes, which sustain the abacus. The
frieze is ornamented with curious devices, the cornice with dentals
and modillions. This order is used in stately and superb structures.
THE
INVENTION OF THIS ORDER.—It was invented at Corinth, by
Callimachus, who is said to have taken the hint of the capital of
this pillar from the following remarkable circumstance. Accidentally
passing by the tomb of a young lady, he perceived a basket of toys
covered with tile, placed over an acanthus root having been left
there by, her nurse. As the branches grew up, they encompassed the
basket, till, arriving at the tile, they met with an obstruction, and
bent downward. Callimachus, struck with the object, set about
imitating the figure; the vase of the capital he made to represent
the basket; the abacus, the tile; and the volutes, the bending
leaves.
THE TUSCAN.
Is
the most simple and solid of the five orders. It was invented in
Tuscany, whence it derives its name. Its column is seven diameters
high; and its capital, base, and entablature have but few moldings.
The simplicity of the construction of this column renders it eligible
where ornament would be superfluous.
THE COMPOSITE.
Is
compounded of the other orders, and was contrived by the Romans. Its
capital has the two rows of leaves of the Corinthian, and the volutes
of the Ionic. Its column has quarter-rounds, as the Tuscan and Doric
orders; is ten diameters high, and its cornice has dentals, or simple
modillions. This pillar is generally found in buildings where
strength, elegance, and beauty are displayed.
OF THE INVENTION OF ORDER IN ARCHITECTURE.
The
ancient and original Orders of Architecture revered by Masons, are no
more than three—the Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian, which were
invented by the Greeks. To these the Romans have added two: the
Tuscan, which they made plainer than the Doric, and the Composite,
which was more ornamental, if not more beautiful, than the
Corinthian. The first three orders
alone, however, show invention and particular character, and
essentially differ from each other; the two others have nothing but
what is borrowed, and differ only accidentally; the Tuscan is the
Doric in its earliest state; and the Composite is the Corinthian,
enriched with the Ionic. To
the Greeks therefore, and not to the Romans, are we indebted for what
is great, judicious, and distinct in architecture.
Of
these five orders, the Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian, as the most
ancient, are most esteemed by Masons. The Ionic, from the skill and
ingenuity displayed in its construction, is emblematic of the column
of Wisdom, which is situated in the east part of the Lodge and is
represented by the Worshipful Master; the Doric, from the massive
strength of its structure is emblematic of the column of Strength,
which is situated in the west part of the Lodge, and is represented
by the Senior Warden; and the Corinthian, from the exuberance of its
ornaments, is emblematic of the column of Beauty, which is situated
in the south part of the Lodge, and is represented by the Junior
Warden.
FIVE SENSES OF HUMAN NATURE.
The
five Senses of Human Nature, which are Hearing, Seeing, Feeling,
Smelling, and Tasting, are next referred to and described.
HEARING.
Is
that sense by which we distinguish sounds, and are capable of
enjoying all the agreeable charms of music. By it we are enabled to
enjoy the pleasures of society, and reciprocally to communicate to
each other our thoughts and intentions, our purposes and desires,
while thus our reason is capable of exerting its utmost power and
energy.
The
wise and beneficent Author of Nature intended, by the formation of
this sense, that we should be social creatures, and receive
the greatest and most important part of our knowledge by the
information of others. For these purposes, we are endowed with
hearing, that by a proper exertion of our rational powers, our
happiness may be complete.
SEEING.
Is
that sense by which we distinguish objects, and in an instant of
time, without change of place or situation, view armies in battle
array, figures of the most stately structures, and all the agreeable
variety displayed in the landscape of Nature. By this sense, we find
our way on the pathless ocean, traverse the globe of the earth,
determine its figure and dimensions, and delineate any region or
quarter of it. By it we measure the planetary orbs, and make new
discoveries in the sphere of the fixed stars. Nay, more; by it we
perceive the tempers and dispositions, the passions and affections,
of our fellow-creatures, when they wish most to conceal them; so
that, though the tongue may be taught to lie and dissemble, the
countenance would display the hypocrisy to the discerning eye. In
fine, the rays of light which administer to this sense are the most
astonishing part of the animated creation, and render the eye a
peculiar object of admiration.
Of
all the faculties, sight is the noblest. The structure of the eye
and its appurtenances evince the admirable contrivance of Nature for
performing all its various external and internal motions, while the
variety displayed in the eyes of different animals, suited to their
several ways of life, clearly demonstrates this organ to be the
master-piece of Nature's work.
FEELING.
Is
that sense by which we distinguish the different qualities of bodies,
such as heat and cold, hardness and softness, roughness and
smoothness, figure, solidity, motion, and extension.
SMELLING.
Is
that sense by which we distinguish odors, the various kinds of which
convey different impressions to the mind. Animal and vegetable
bodies, and, indeed, most other bodies, while exposed to the air,
continually send forth effluvia of vast subtilty, as well in the
state of life and growth, as in the state of fermentation and
putrefaction. These effluvia being drawn into the nostrils along
with the air, are the means by which all bodies are smelled. Hence
it is evident that there is a manifest appearance of design in the
great Creator's having planted the organ of smell in the inside of
that canal through which the air continually passes in respiration.
TASTING.
Enables
us to make a proper distinction in the choice of our food. The organ
of this sense guards the entrance of the alimentary canal, as that of
smelling guards the entrance of the canal for respiration. From the
situation of both these organs, it is plain that they were intended
by Nature to distinguish wholesome food from that which is nauseous.
Everything that enters into the stomach must undergo the scrutiny of
tasting; and by it we are capable of discerning the changes which the
same body undergoes in the different compositions of art, cookery,
chemistry, pharmacy, etc.
Smelling
and tasting are inseparably connected; and it is by the unnatural
kind of life men commonly lead in society, that these senses are
rendered less fit to perform their natural offices.
Of
these senses, Hearing, Seeing, and Feeling have always
been highly revered by Masons.
SEVEN LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES.
The
seven Liberal Arts and Sciences—which are Grammar, Rhetoric,
Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy—are then
described.
GRAMMAR.
Teaches the proper arrangement
of words, according to the idiom or dialect of any particular people;
and that excellency of pronunciation which enables us to speak or
write a language with accuracy, agreeably to reason and correct
usage.
RHETORIC.
Teaches
us to speak copiously and fluently on any subject, not merely with
propriety alone, but with all the advantages of force and elegance,
wisely contriving to captivate the hearer by strength of argument and
beauty of expression, whether it be to entreat or exhort, to admonish
or applaud.
LOGIC.
Teaches
us to guide our reason discretionally in the general knowledge of
things, and directs our inquiries after truth. It consists of a
regular train of argument, whence we infer, deduce, and conclude,
according to certain premises laid down, admitted, or granted; and in
it are employed the faculties of conceiving, judging, reasoning, and
disposing, all of which are naturally led on from one gradation to
another, till the point in question is finally determined.
This
science ought to be cultivated as the foundation, or ground-work, of
our inquires; particularly tn the pursuit of those sublime principles
which claim our attention as Masons.
ARITHMETIC.
Teaches
the powers and properties of numbers, which are variously effected,
by letters, tables, figures, and instruments. By this art, reasons
and demonstrations are given for finding out any certain number whose
relation or affinity to another is already known or discovered. The
greater advancement we make in the mathematical sciences, the more
capable we shall be of considering such things as are the ordinary
objects of our conceptions, and be thereby led to a more
comprehensive knowledge of our great Creator and the works of the
creation.
GEOMETRY.
Treats
of the powers and properties of magnitudes in general, where length,
breadth, and thickness are considered, from a point to a line, from a
line to a superficies, and from a superficies to a solid.
A
point is a dimensionless figure, or an indivisible part of a space.
A
line is a point continued, and a figure of one capacity, namely,
length.
A
superficies is a figure of two dimensions, namely, length and
breadth.
A
solid is a figure of three dimensions, namely, length, breadth, and
thickness.
THE ADVANTAGES
OF GEOMETRY.—By this science the architect is enabled to
construct his plans and execute his designs; the general, to arrange
his soldiers; the geographer, to give us the dimensions of the world,
and all things therein contained; to delineate the extent of seas,
and specify the divisions of empires, kingdoms, and provinces. By
it, also, the astronomer is enabled to make his observations, and to
fix the duration of time and seasons, years and cycles.
In
fine, geometry is the foundation of architecture, and the root of the
mathematics.
MUSIC.
Teaches
the art of forming concords, so as to compose delightful harmony, by
a mathematical and proportional arrangement of acute, grave, and
mixed sounds. This art, by a series of experiments, is reduced to a
demonstrative science, with respect to tones and the intervals of
sound. It inquires into the nature of concords and discords, and
enables us to find out the proportion between them by numbers.
ASTRONOMY.
Is
that divine art by which we are taught to read the wisdom, strength,
and beauty of the Almighty Creator in those sacred pages, the
celestial hemisphere.
Assisted
by astronomy, we can observe the magnitudes, and calculate the
periods and eclipses of the heavenly bodies. By it we learn the use
of the globes, the system of the world, and the preliminary laws of
nature. While we are employed in the study of this science, we must
perceive unparalleled instances of wisdom and goodness; and, through
the whole creation, trace the glorious Author by his works.
Here
a symbol of Plenty is introduced, and proper explanations are given
as to the proper answers to the following questions:
What
does it denote?
How
was it represented?
Why
was it instituted?
The
passages of Scripture which are referred to in this part of the
section will be found in Judges 12:1-6. The Vulgate version gives a
paraphrastic translation of a part of the 6th verse, as follows:
“Say, therefore, Shibboleth, which being interpreted is an ear
of corn.” The same
word also in Hebrew signifies a rapid stream of water, from the root
SIHaBaL, to flow copiously. The too common error of speaking, in
this part of the ritual, of a “water-ford” instead
of a “water-fall,” which is the correct word, must
be carefully avoided. A water-fall is an emblem of plenty,
because it indicates an abundance of water. A water-ford,
for the converse reason, is, if any symbol at all, a symbol of
scarcity.
The
lecture next proceeds to illustrate:
THE MORAL ADVANTAGES OF GEOMETRY.
Geometry,
the first and noblest of sciences, is the basis on which the
superstructure of Masonry is erected. By geometry, we may curiously
trace Nature, through her various windings, to her most concealed
recesses. By it we may discover the power, the wisdom, and the
goodness of the Grand Artificer of the Universe, and view with
delight the proportions which connect this vast machine.
By
it we may discover how the planets move in their different orbits,
and demonstrate their various revolutions. By it we account for the
return of seasons, and the variety of scenes which each season
displays to the discerning eye. Numberless worlds are around us, all
framed by the same Divine Artist, which roll through the vast
expanse, and are all conducted by the same unerring law of Nature.
A
survey of Nature, and the observations of her beautiful proportions,
first determined man to imitate the Divine plan, and study symmetry
and order. This gave rise to societies, and birth to every useful
art. The architect began to design, and the plans which he laid
down, being improved by experience and time, have produced works
which are the admiration of every age.
The
lapse of time, the ruthless hand of ignorance, and the devastations
of war, have laid waste and destroyed many valuable monuments of
antiquity on which the utmost exertions of human genius have been
employed. Even the Temple of Solomon, so spacious and magnificent,
and constructed by so many celebrated artists, escaped not the
unsparing ravages of barbarous force. Freemasonry, notwithstanding,
has still survived. The attentive ear receives the
sound from the instructive tongue, and the
mysteries of Freemasonry are safely lodged in the repository
of faithful breasts. Tools and
instruments of architecture, and symbolic emblems, most expressive,
are selected by the fraternity to imprint on the mind wise
and serious truths; and thus, through a succession of ages, are
transmitted, unimpaired, the most excellent tenets of our
institution.
[This
descant on geometry is, perhaps, one of the oldest passages in our
monitorial instruction. It originally constituted a part of an
address, entitled “A Vindication of Masonry,” delivered
on the 15th May, 1741, by Brother Charles Leslie, before Vernon
Kilwinning Lodge, in the city of Edinburgh. The full address
can be found in Hutchinson, William. The Spirit of Masonry,
2nd ed. pp. 308-320.]
The
lecture closes by paying profound homage to the sacred name of the
Grand Geometrician of the Universe, before whom all Masons, from the
youngest E:. A:. who stands in the northeast corner of the Lodge, to
the W:. M:. who presides in the east, humbly, reverently, and
devoutly bow.
CHARGE AT THE PASSING TO THE DEGREE OF FELLOW CRAFT.
Brother:
Being passed to the second degree of Masonry, we congratulate you on
your preferment. The internal, and not the external, qualifications
of a man are what Masonry regards. As you increase in knowledge, you
will improve in social intercourse.
It
is unnecessary to recapitulate the duties which as a Mason, you are
bound to discharge, or to enlarge on the necessity of a strict
adherence to them, as your own experience must have established their
value. Our laws and regulations you are strenuously to support, and
be always ready to assist in seeing them duly executed. You are not
to palliate or aggravate the offenses of your brethren; but in the
decision of every trespass against our rules, you are to judge with
candor, admonish with friendship, and reprehend with justice.
The
study of the liberal arts, that valuable branch of education which
tends so effectually to polish and adorn the mind, is earnestly
recommended to your consideration; especially the science of
geometry, which is established as the basis of our art. Geometry, or
Masonry, originally synonymous terms, being of a divine and moral
nature, is enriched with the most useful knowledge; while it proves
the wonderful properties of nature, it demonstrates the more
important truths of morality.
Your
past behavior and regular deportment have merited the honor which we
have now conferred; and in your new character it is expected that you
will conform to the principles of the Order, by steadily persevering
in the practice of every commendable virtue. Such is the nature of
your engagement as a Fellow Craft, and to these duties you are bound
by the most sacred ties.
[This
charge is taken, with but very little alteration, from William
Preston, who first published it in his “Illustrations of
Masonry.” See, e.g., pp. 79-82 of the 1775 edition or pp. 39-40
of the 1867 edition.]
LECTURE ON THE WINDING STAIRS.
Having
passed through the Winding Stairs to the Middle Chamber, it is proper
that you should be made acquainted with the symbolic meaning of the
ceremonies in which you have been engaged.
Although
the legend of the Winding Stairs forms an important tradition of
Ancient Craft Masonry, the only allusion to it in Scripture is to be
found in a single verse in the 6th chapter of the 1st Book of Kings,
and is in these words: “The door for the middle chamber was in
the right side of the house; and they went up with winding stairs
into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.”
Out of this slender material has been constructed an allegory,
which, if properly considered in its symbolical relations, will be
found to be of surpassing beauty. But it is only as a symbol that we
can regard this whole tradition, for the historical facts and the
architectural details alike forbid us for a moment to suppose that
the legend, as it is rehearsed in the second degree of Masonry, is
anything more than a magnificent philosophical myth.
Let
us inquire into the true design of this legend, and learn the lesson
of symbolism which it is intended to teach.
In
the investigation of the true meaning of every Masonic symbol and
allegory, we must be governed by the single principle that the whole
design of Freemasonry as a speculative science is the investigation
of divine truth. To this great object everything is subsidiary. The
Mason is, from the moment of his initiation as an Entered Apprentice,
to the time at which he receives the full fruition of Masonic light,
an investigator—a laborer in the quarry and the Temple—whose
reward is to be Truth, and all the ceremonies and traditions of the
Order tend to this ultimate design.
Hence
there is in Speculative Masonry always a progress, symbolized by its
peculiar ceremonies of initiation. There is an advancement from a
lower to a higher state—from darkness to light—from death
to life—from error to truth. The candidate is always
ascending; he is never stationary; never goes back; but each step he
takes brings him to some new mental illumination—to the
knowledge of some more elevated doctrine. The teaching of the Divine
Master is, in respect to this continual progress, the teaching of
Masonry—“No man having put his hand to the plow, and
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven.” And similar
to this is the precept of Pythagorus: “When traveling, turn
not back, for if you do, the furies will accompany you.”
In
an investigation of the symbolism of the Winding Stairs, we will be
directed to the true explanation by a reference to their origin,
their number, the objects which they recall, and their termination;
but, above all, by a consideration of the great design which an
ascent upon them was intended to accomplish.
The
steps of this winding staircase commenced, we are in formed, at the
porch of the Temple—that is to say, at its very entrance. But
nothing is more undoubted in the science of Masonic symbolism than
that the Temple was the representative of the world, purified by the
Shekinah, or the Divine Presence. The world of the profane is
without the Temple; the world of the initiated is within its sacred
walls. Hence, to enter the temple, to pass within the porch, to be
made a Mason, and to be born into the world of Masonic light, are all
synonymous and convertible terms. Here, then, the symbolism of the
Winding Stairs begins.
The
Apprentice, having entered within the porch of the temple, has begun
his Masonic life. But the first degree in Masonry, like the lesser
mysteries of the ancient systems of initiation, is only a preparation
and purification for something higher. The Entered Apprentice is the
child in Masonry. The lessons which he receives are simply intended
to cleanse the heart and prepare the recipient for that mental
illumination which is to be given in the succeeding degrees.
As
a Fellow Craft, he has advanced another step, and as the degree is
emblematic of youth, so it is here that the intellectual education of
the candidate begins. And therefore, here, at the very spot which
separates the Porch from the Sanctuary, where childhood ends and
manhood begins, he finds stretching out before him a winding stair
which invites him, as it were, to ascend, and which, as the symbol of
discipline and instruction, teaches him that here must commence his
Masonic labor—here he must enter upon those glorious, though
difficult researches, the end of which is to be the possession of
divine truth. The Winding Stairs begin after the candidate has
passed within the Porch and between the pillars of Strength and
Establishment, as a significant symbol to teach him that as soon as
he had passed beyond the years of irrational childhood, and commenced
his entrance upon manly life, the laborious task of self-improvement
is the first duty that is placed before him. He can not stand still,
if he would be worthy of his vocation; his destiny as an immortal
being requires him to ascend, step by step, until he has reached the
summit, where the treasures of knowledge await him.
The
candidate, then, in the second degree of Masonry, represents a man
starting forth on the journey of life, with the great task before him
of self-improvement. For the faithful performance of this task, a
reward is promised, which reward consists in the development of all
his intellectual faculties, the moral and spiritual elevation of his
character, and the acquisition of truth and knowledge. Now, the
attainment of this moral and intellectual condition supposes an
elevation of character, an ascent from a lower to a higher life, and
a passage of toil and difficulty, through rudimentary instruction, to
the full fruition of wisdom. This is therefore beautifully
symbolized by the Winding Stairs, at whose foot the aspirant stands
ready to climb the toilsome steep, while at its top is placed “that
hieroglyphic bright, which none but Craftsmen ever saw,” as the
emblem of divine truth. And hence a distinguished writer has said
that “these steps, like all the Masonic symbols, are
illustrative of discipline and doctrine, as well as of natural,
mathematical, and metaphysical science, and open to us an extensive
range of moral and speculative inquiry.”
The
candidate, incited by the love of virtue and the desire of knowledge,
and withal eager for the reward of truth which is set before him,
begins at once the toilsome ascent. At each division he pauses to
gather instruction from the symbolism which these divisions present
to his attention.
At
the first pause which he makes, he is instructed in the peculiar
organization of the Order of which he has become a disciple. But the
information here given, if taken in its naked, literal sense, is
barren, and unworthy of his labor. The rank of the officers who
govern, and the names of the degrees which constitute the
institution, can give him no knowledge which he has not before
possessed. We must look, therefore, to the symbolic meaning of these
allusions for any value which may be attached to this part of the
ceremony.
The reference
to the organization of the Masonic institution is intended to remind the
aspirant of the union of men in society and the development of the
social state out of the state of nature. He is thus reminded, in the
very outset of his journey, of the blessings which arise from
civilization, and of the fruits of virtue and knowledge which are
derived from that condition. Masonry itself is the result of
civilization; while in grateful return it has been one of the most
important means of extending that condition of mankind.
All
the monuments of antiquity that the ravages of time have left,
combine to prove that man had no sooner emerged from the savage into
the social state, than he commenced the organization of religious
mysteries, and the separation, by a sort of divine instinct, of the
sacred from the profane. Then came the invention of architecture as
a means of providing convenient dwellings and necessary shelter from
the inclemencies and vicissitudes of the seasons, with all the
mechanical arts connected with it, and lastly, geometry, as a
necessary science to enable the cultivators of land to measure and
designate the limits of their possessions. All these are claimed as
peculiar characteristics of Speculative Masonry, which may be
considered as the type of civilization, the former bearing the same
relation to the profane world as the latter does to the savage state.
Hence, we at once see the fitness of the symbolism which commences
the aspirant's upward progress in the cultivation of knowledge and
the search after truth, by recalling to his mind the condition of
civilization and the social union of mankind, as necessary
preparations for the attainment of these objects. In the allusions
to the officers of a Lodge, and the degrees of Masonry as explanatory
of the organization of our own society, we clothe in our symbolic
language the history of the organization of society.
Advancing
in his progress, the candidate is invited to contemplate another
series of instructions. The Human Senses, as the appropriate
channels through which we receive all our ideas of perception, and
which, therefore, constitute the most important sources of our
knowledge, are here referred to as a symbol of intellectual
cultivation. Architecture, as the most important of the arts which
conduce to the comfort of mankind, is also alluded to here, not
simply because it is so closely connected with the operative
institution of Masonry, but also as the type of all the other useful
arts. In his second pause, in the ascent of the Winding Stairs, the
aspirant is therefore reminded of the necessity of cultivating
practical knowledge.
So
far, then, the instructions he has received relate to his own
condition in society, as a member of the great social compact, and to
his means of becoming, by a knowledge of the arts of practical life,
a necessary and useful member of that society.
But
his motto will be, “Onward and forward!” The stair is
still before him; its summit is not yet reached, and still further
treasures of wisdom are to be sought for, or the reward will not be
gained, nor the middle chamber, the abiding-place of truth, be
reached.
In
his third pause, he therefore arrives at that point in which the
whole circle of human science is to be explained. Symbols are in
themselves arbitrary and of conventional signification, and the
complete circle of human science might have been as well symbolized
by any other sign or series of doctrines as by the seven liberal Arts
and Sciences. But Masonry is an institution of the olden time; and
this selection of the liberal arts and sciences as a symbol of the
completion of human learning is one of the most pregnant evidences
that we have of its antiquity.
In
the seventh century, and for a long time afterward, the circle of
instruction to which all the learning of the most eminent schools and
most distinguished philosophers was confined, was limited to what was
then called the liberal arts and sciences, and consisted of two
branches, the trivium and the quadrivium. [The
words themselves are purely classical, but the meanings here given to
them are of a mediaeval or corrupt Latinity. Among the old Romans, a
trivium meant a place
where three ways met, and a quadrivium,
where four, or what we now call a cross-road.
When we speak of the paths of learning,
we readily discover the origin of the signification given by the
scholastic philosophers to these terms.] The trivium
included grammar, rhetoric, and logic; the quadrivium
comprehended arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.
These
seven heads were supposed to include universal knowledge. He who was
master of these was thought to have no need of a preceptor to explain
any books or to solve any questions which lay within the compass of
human reason; the knowledge of the trivium having furnished
him with the key to all language, and that of the quadrivium
having opened to him the secret laws of Nature.
At
a period when few were instructed in the trivium, and very few
studied the quadrivium, to be master of both was sufficient to
complete the character of a philosopher. The propriety, therefore,
of adopting the seven liberal Arts and Sciences as a symbol of the
completion of human learning is apparent. The candidate, having
reached this point, is now supposed to have accomplished the task
upon which he had entered—he has reached the last step, and is
now ready to receive the full fruition of human learning.
So
far, then, we are able to comprehend the true symbolism of the
Winding Stairs. They represent the progress of an inquiring mind
with the toils and labors of intellectual cultivation and study, and
the preparatory acquisition of all human science, as a preliminary
step to the attainment of divine truth, which it must be remembered
is always symbolized in Masonry by the Word.
Here
we may allude to the symbolism of numbers, which is for the first
time presented to the consideration of the Masonic student, in the
legend of the Winding Stairs. The theory of numbers as the symbols
of certain qualities was originally borrowed by the Masons from the
school of Pythagoras. According to that system, the fact that the
total number of the steps amount in all to fifteen, is a
significant symbol. For fifteen was a sacred number among the
Orientals, because the letters of the holy name, JAH, were, in their
numerical value, equivalent to fifteen; and hence a figure, in which
the nine digits were so disposed as to make fifteen either way when
added together perpendicularly, horizontally, or diagonally,
constituted one of their most sacred talismans. The fifteen steps in
the Winding Stairs are therefore symbolic of the name of God.
But
we are not yet done. It will be remembered that a reward was
promised for all this toilsome ascent of the Winding Stairs. Now,
what are the wages of a Speculative Mason? Not money, nor wine, nor
oil. All these are but symbols. His wages are truth, or that
approximation to it which will be most appropriate to the degree into
which he has been initiated. It is one of the most beautiful, but at
the same time most abstruse, doctrines of the science of Masonic
symbolism, that the Mason is ever to be in search of truth, but is
never to find it. And this is intended to teach the humiliating but
necessary lesson, that the knowledge of the nature of God and of
man's relation to him, which knowledge constitutes divine truth, can
never be acquired in this life. It is only when the portals of the
grave open to us, and give us an entrance into a more perfect life,
that this knowledge is to be attained.
The
Middle Chamber is, therefore, symbolic of this life, where only the
symbol of the word can be given, where only the truth is to be
reached by approximation, and yet where we are to learn that that
truth will consist in a perfect knowledge of the G:. A:. O:. T:. U:.
This is the reward of the inquiring Mason; in this consists the wages
of a Fellow Craft; he is directed to the truth, but must travel
farther and ascend still higher to attain it.
It
is, then, as a symbol, and a symbol only, that we must study this
beautiful legend of the Winding Stairs. If we attempt to adopt it as
a historical fact, the absurdity of its details stares us in the
face, and wise men will wonder at our credulity. Its inventors had
no desire thus to impose upon our folly; but offering it to us as a
great philosophical myth, they did not for a moment suppose that we
would pass over its sublime moral teachings to accept the allegory as
a historical narrative, without meaning, and wholly irreconcilable
with the records of Scripture, and opposed by all the principles of
probability. To suppose that eighty thousand craftsmen were weekly
paid in the narrow precincts of the Temple chambers, is simply to
suppose an absurdity. But to believe that all this pictorial
representation of an ascent by a Winding Staircase to the place where
the wages of labor were to be received, was an allegory to teach us
the ascent of the mind from ignorance, through all the toils of study
and the difficulties of obtaining knowledge, receiving here a little
and there a little, adding something to the stock of our ideas at
each step, until, in the middle chamber of life—in the full
fruition of manhood—the reward is attained, and the purified
and elevated intellect is invested with the reward, in the direction
how to seek God and God's truth—to believe this, is to believe
and to know the true design of Speculative Masonry, the only design
which makes it worthy of a good or a wise man's study.
Its
historical details are barren, but its symbols and allegories are
fertile with instruction.
And
so we close with this lesson: The Fellow Craft represents a man
laboring in the pursuit of truth; and the Winding Stairs are the
devious pathways of that pursuit.