Читать книгу The Mysteries of Free Masonry - William Morgan - Страница 9
ОглавлениеTHIRD SECTION.
Question—We have been saying a good deal about a Lodge, I want to know what constitutes a Lodge? Answer—A certain number of Free and Accepted Masons, duly assembled in a room or place, with the Holy Bible, Square and Compass, and other Masonic Implements, with a charter from the Grand Lodge, empowering them to work.
Q. Where did our ancient brethren meet before Lodges were erected? A. On the highest hills, and in the lowest vales.
Q. Why on the highest hills and in the lowest vales? A. The better to guard against cowans and enemies either ascending or descending, that the brethren might have timely notice of their approach, to prevent being surprised.
Q. What is the form of your Lodge? A. An oblong square.
Q. How long? A. From East to West.
Q. How wide? A. Between North and South.
Q. How high? A. From the surface of the earth to the highest heavens.
Q. How deep? A. From the surface to the centre.
Q. What supports your Lodge? A. Three large columns or pillars.
Q. What are their names? A. Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty.
Q. Why so? A. It is necessary there should be wisdom to contrive, strength to support, and beauty to adorn, all great and important undertakings; but more especially this of ours.
Q. Has your Lodge any covering? A. It has; a clouded canopy, or starry-decked heaven, where all good Masons hope to arrive.
Q. How do you hope to arrive there? A. By the assistance of Jacob's ladder.
Q. How many principal rounds has it got? A. Three.
Q. What are their names? A. Faith, Hope, and Charity.
Q. What do they teach? A. Faith in God, hope in immortality, and charity to all mankind.
Q. Has your Lodge any furniture? A. It has; the Holy Bible, Square, and Compass.
Q. To whom do they belong? A. The Bible to God; the Square to the Master; and the Compass to the Craft.
Q. How explained? A. The Bible to God, it being the inestimable gift of God to man for his instruction, to guide him through the rugged paths of life; the Square to the Master, it being the proper emblem of his office: the Compass to the Craft; by a due attention to which we are taught to limit our desires, curb our ambition, subdue our irregular appetites, and keep our passions and prejudices in due bounds with all mankind, but more especially with the brethren.
Q. Has your Lodge any ornaments? A. It has; the Mosaic, or checkered pavement; the indented tressel; that beautiful tesselated border which surrounds it, with the blazing star in the centre.
Q. What do they represent? A. The Mosaic, or checkered pavement, represents this world; which, though checkered over with good and evil, yet brethren may walk together thereon and not stumble; the indented tressel, with the blazing star in the centre, the manifold blessings and comforts with which we are surrounded in this life, but more especially those which we hope to enjoy hereafter; the blazing star, that prudence which ought to appear conspicuous in the conduct of every Mason, but more especially commemorative of the star which appeared in the East to guide the wise men to Bethlehem, to proclaim the birth and the presence of the Son of God.
Q. Has your Lodge any lights? A. It has; three.
Q. How are they situated? A. East, West, and South.
Q. Has it none in the North? A. It has not.
Q. Why so? A. Because this and every other Lodge is, or ought to be, a true representation of King Solomon's Temple, which was situated North of the ecliptic; the Sun and Moon, therefore, darting their rays from the South, no light was to be expected from the North; we, therefore, Masonically, term the North a place of darkness.
Q. Has your Lodge any jewels? A. It has; six; three movable and three immovable.
Q. What are the three movable jewels? A. The Square, Level, and Plumb.
Q. What do they teach? A. The Square, morality; the Level, equality; and the Plumb, rectitude of life and conduct.
Q. What are the three immovable jewels? A. The rough Ashlar, the perfect Ashlar, and the Tressel-Board.
Q. What are they? A. The rough Ashlar is a stone in its rough and natural state; the perfect Ashlar is also a stone, made ready by the working tools of the Fellow Craft to be adjusted in the building; and the Tressle-Board is for the master workman to draw his plans and designs upon.
Q. What do they represent? A. The rough Ashlar represents man in his rude and imperfect state by nature; the perfect Ashlar also represents man in that state of perfection to which we all hope to arrive, by means of a virtuous life and education, our own endeavors, and the blessing of God. In erecting our temporal building, we pursue the plans and designs laid down by the master workman on his Tressle-Board: but in erecting our spiritual building, we pursue the plans and designs laid down by the Supreme Geometrician of the Universe, in the Book of Life, which we, Masonically, term our spiritual Tressle-Board.
Q. Who did you serve? A. My Master.
Q. How long? A. Six days.
Q. What did you serve him with? A. Freedom, Fervency, and Zeal.
Q. What do they represent? A. Chalk, Charcoal, and Earth.
Q. Why so? A. There is nothing freer than chalk, the slightest touch of which leaves a trace behind; nothing more fervent than heated charcoal; it will melt the most obdurate metals; nothing more zealous than the earth to bring forth.
Q. How is your Lodge situated? A. Due East and West.
Q. Why so? A. Because the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
Q. A second reason? A. The gospel was first preached in the East and is spreading to the West.
Q. A third reason? A. The liberal arts and sciences began in the East and are extending to the West.
Q. A fourth reason? A. Because all the churches and chapels are, or ought to be, so situated.
Q. Why are all churches and chapels so situated? A. Because King Solomon's Temple was so situated.
Q. Why was King Solomon's Temple so situated? A. Because Moses, after conducting the children of Israel through the Red Sea, by divine command, erected a tabernacle to God, and placed it due East and West, which was to commemorate, to the latest posterity, that miraculous East wind that wrought their mighty deliverance; and this was an exact model of Solomon's Temple; since which time, every well regulated and governed Lodge is, or ought to be, so situated.
Q. To whom did our ancient brethren dedicate their Lodges? A. To King Solomon.
Q. Why so? A. Because King Solomon was our most ancient Grand Master.
Q. To whom do modern Masons dedicate their Lodges? A. To St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist.
Q. Why so? A. Because they were the two most ancient Christian patrons of Masonry; and, since their time, in every well-regulated and governed Lodge there has been a certain point within a circle, which circle is bounded on the East and the West by two perpendicular parallel lines, representing the anniversary of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, who were two perfect parallels, as well in Masonry as Christianity, on the vertex of which rests the Book of the Holy Scriptures, supporting Jacob's Ladder, which is said to reach the watery clouds, and, in passing round this circle, we naturally touch on both these perpendicular parallel lines, as well as the Book of the Holy Scriptures; and while a Mason keeps himself thus circumscribed, he cannot materially err.
END OF THE LECTURE, AND OF THE FIRST DEGREE.
It is proper to add here that very few Masons ever learn the Lecture. Of course, it is necessary that the officers of the Lodge should understand their own particular part, and that is generally all they learn.
