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The three Great Lights in Masonry are the Holy Bible, the Square and the Compa.s.ses, and are thus explained:
The Holy Bible is given us as the rule and guide for our faith and practice, the Square to square our actions, and the Compa.s.ses to circ.u.mscribe our desires and keep our pa.s.sions in due bounds with all mankind, especially the brethren.
The three Lesser Lights are the Sun, Moon and Master of the Lodge, and are thus explained:
As the Sun rules the day and the Moon governs the night, so should the Worshipful Master, with equal regularity, endeavor to rule and govern the Lodge.
The Representatives of the three Lesser Lights are three burning tapers, placed in a triangular form about the altar.
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=The Lamb-Skin or White Leathern Ap.r.o.n= is an emblem of innocence and the badge of a Mason; more ancient than the Golden Fleece; more honorable than the Star and Garter, or any other order that can be conferred upon you at this or any future period by King, Prince or Potentate, or any other person except he be a Mason and in the body of a lodge. I trust you will wear it with equal pleasure to yourself and honor to the fraternity.
The following may be used:
It may be that, in the coming years, upon your head may rest the laurel wreaths of victory; pendant from your breast may hang jewels fit to grace the diadem of an Eastern potentate; nay, more than these, with light added to the coming light, your ambitious feet may tread round after round of the ladder that leads to fame in our mystic circle, and even the purple of the Fraternity may rest upon your honored shoulders; but never again from mortal hands, never again until your enfranchised spirit shall have pa.s.sed upward and inward through the pearly gates, shall any honor so distinguished, so emblematical of purity and all perfections, be conferred upon you as this which I now bestow. It is yours; yours to wear throughout an honorable life, and at your death to be deposited upon the coffin which shall inclose your lifeless remains, and with them laid beneath the clods of the valley.
Let its pure and spotless surface be to you an ever-present reminder of a "purity of life and rect.i.tude of conduct," a never-ending argument for n.o.bler deeds, for higher thoughts, for greater achievements. And when at last your weary feet shall have come to the end of life"s toilsome journey, and from your nerveless grasp shall drop forever the working tools of life, may the record of your life and actions be as pure and spotless as this fair emblem which I place in your hands; and when your trembling soul shall stand naked and alone before the Great White Throne, there to receive judgment for the deeds done while here in the body, may it be your portion to hear from Him who sitteth as the Judge Supreme the welcome words: "Well done, good and faithful servant! Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things! Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
Working Tools.
The Working Tools of Entered Apprentice are the Twenty-four-Inch Gauge and the Common Gavel.
The Twenty-four-inch Gauge is an instrument used by operative masons to measure and lay out their work; but we, as Free and Accepted Masons, are taught to use it for the more n.o.ble and glorious purpose of dividing our time. It being divided into twenty-four equal parts, is emblematical of the twenty-four hours of the day, which we are taught to divide into three equal parts, whereby are found eight hours for the service of G.o.d and a distressed worthy brother, eight for our usual vocations, and eight for refreshment and sleep.
The Common Gavel is an instrument used by operative masons to break off the corners of rough stones, the better to fit them for the builder"s use; but we, as Free and Accepted Masons, are taught to use it for the more n.o.ble and glorious purpose of divesting our hearts and consciences of all the vices and superfluities of life, thereby fitting our minds, as living stones, for that spiritual building--that house not made with hands--eternal in the heavens.
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Reinvested.
Northeast Corner.
* * * an upright man and Mason, and I give it you strictly in charge ever to walk and act as such before G.o.d and man.
SECOND SECTION.
This section accounts, rationally for the ceremonies of initiation.
Containing almost entirely esoteric work, it cannot be written. The Master should not only familiarize himself with it, but he should also diligently learn and explain to the candidate each truth symbolized by each step of the ceremonies through which he has just pa.s.sed.
Offensive or Defensive.
At the building of King Solomon"s Temple there was not heard the sound of axe, hammer or any tool of iron. The question naturally arises, How could so stupendous an edifice be erected without the aid of those implements? The stones were hewn, squared and numbered in the quarries where they were raised; the timbers were felled and prepared in the forests of Lebanon, conveyed in floats by sea to Joppa, and thence by land to Jerusalem, where they were set up by the aid of wooden implements prepared for that purpose; so that every part of the building, when completed, fitted with such exact nicety that it resembled the handiwork of the Supreme Architect of the Universe more than that of human hands.
Masonry regards no man for his worldly wealth or honors; it is therefore the internal and not the external qualifications of the man that recommend him to become a Mason.
In the fourth chapter of the book of Ruth we read: "Now this was the manner in former times concerning redeeming and changing; for to confirm all things, a man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor; and this was a testimony in Israel." * * *
Cable----.
Hood----.
K--no--ks.
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you."
Before entering upon any great or important undertaking, we ought always to invoke the aid of Deity.
Trust in G.o.d.