The Holy Bible lies open upon the Altar of Masonry, and upon the
bible lie the Square and Compasses. they are the three Great Lights
of the Lodge, at once its Divine warrant and its chief working
tools. They are symbols of Revelation, Righteousness, and
Redemption, teaching us that by walking in the light of Truth and
obeying the law of Right, the Divine in man wins victory over the
earthly. How to live is the one important matter, and he will seek
far without finding a wiser way than that shown us by the Great
Lights of the Lodge.
The Square and Compasses are the oldest, the simplest, and the most
universal symbols of Masonry. All the world over, whether as a sign
on a building, or a badge worn by a Brother, even the profane know
them to be emblems of our ancient Craft. Some Years ago, when a
business firm tried to adopt the Square and Compasses as a
trademark, the Patent Office refused permission, on the ground, as
the decision said, that "there can be no doubt that this device, so
commonly worn and employed by Masons, has an established mystic
significance, universally recognized as existing; whether
comprehended by all or not, is not material to this issue." They
belong to such, alike by the associations of history and the tongue
of common report.
Nearly everywhere in our Ritual, as in the public mind, the Square
and Compasses are seen together. If not interlocked, they are seldom
far apart, and the one suggests the other. And that is as it should
be, because the things they symbolize are interwoven. In the old
days when the earth was thought to be flat and square, the Square
was an emblem of the earth, and later, of the earthly element om, as
the sky is an arc or a circle, the implement which describes a
Circle became the symbol of the heavenly, or sky spirit in man. thus
the tools of the builder became the emblems of the thoughts of the
thinker; and nothing in Masonry is more impressive than the slow
elevation of the Compasses above the Square in the progress of the
degrees. the whole meaning and task of life is there, for such as
have eyes to see.
Let us separate the Square from the Compasses and study it alone,
the better to see sits further meaning and use. There is no need to
say that the Square we have in mind is not a Cube, which has four
equal sides and angles, deemed by the Greeks a figure of perfection.
Nor is it the square of the carpenter, one leg of which is longer
than the other, with inches marked for measuring. It is a small,
plain Square, unmarked and with legs of equal length, a simple
try-square used for testing the accuracy of angles, and the
precision with which stones are cut. since the try-square was used
to prove that angles were right, it naturally became an emblem of
accuracy, integrity, rightness. As stones are cut to fit into a
building, so our acts and thoughts are built together into a
structure of Character, badly or firmly, and must be tested by a
moral standard of which the simple try-square is a symbol.
So, Among Speculative Masons, the tiny trysquare has always been a
symbol of mortality, of the basic rightness which must be the test
of every act and the foundation of character and society. From the
beginning of the Revival in 1717 this was made plain in the teaching
of Masonry, by the fact that the Holy bible was placed upon the
Altar, along with the Square and Compasses. In one of the earliest
catechisms of the Craft, dated 1725, the question is asked: "How
many make a lodge?" The answer is specific and unmistakable: "God
and the square, with five or seven right or perfect Masons." God and
the Square, Religion and Morality, must be present in every lodge as
its ruling Lights, or it fails of being a just and truly constituted
lodge. In all lands, in all rites where Masonry is true to itself,
the Square is a symbol of righteousness, and is applied in the light
of faith in God.
God and the Square: it is necessary to keep the two together in our
day, because the tendency of the time is to separate them. the idea
in vogue today is that morality is enough, and that faith in God if
there be a God may or may not be important. Some very able men of
the Craft insist that we make the teaching of Masonry too religious
Whereas, as all history shows, if faith in God grows dim, morality
becomes a mere custom, if not a cobweb, to be thrown off lightly. It
is not rooted in reality, and so lacks authority and sanction. Such
an idea, such a spirit, so widespread in our time, and finding so
many able and plausible advocates strikes at the foundations, not
only of Masonry, but of all ordered and advancing social life. Once
let men come to think that morality is a human invention, and not a
part of the order of the world, and the moral law will lose both its
meaning and its power. far wiser was the old book entitled ALL IN
ALL AND THE SAME FOREVER, by John Davies, and dated 1607, though
written by a non-Mason, when it read the reality and nature of God
in this manner: "Yet I this form of formless Deity drew by the
Square and Compasses of our Creed." For, inevitable, a society
without standards will be a society without stability, and it will
one day go down. Not only nations, but whole civilizations have
perished in the past, for lack of righteousness. History speaks
plainly in this matter, and we dare not disregard it. Hence the
importance attached to the Square or Virtue, and the reason why
Masons call it the great symbol of their Craft. It is a symbol of
that moral law upon which human life must rest if it is to stand. A
man may build a house in any way he likes, but if he expects it to
stand and be his home, he must adjust his structure to the laws and
forces that rule in the material realm. Just so, unless we live in
obedience to the moral laws which God has written in the order of
things, our lives will fall and end in wreck. When a young man
forgets the simple Law of the Square, it does not need a prophet to
foresee what the result will be. It is like a problem in geometry.
Such has been the meaning of the Square as far back as we can go.
Long before our era we find the Square teaching the same lesson
which it teaches us today. In one of the old books of China, called
THE GREAT LEARNING, which has been dated in the fifth century before
Christ, we read that a man should not do unto others what he would
not have then do unto him; and the writer adds, "This is called the
principle of acting of the square." There it is recorded long, long
ago. The greatest philosopher has found nothing more profound, and
the oldest man in his ripe wisdom has learned nothing more true.
Even Jesus only altered it from the negative to the positive form in
His Golden Rule. So, everywhere, in our Craft and outside, the
Square has taught its simple truth which does not grow old. The
Deputy Provincial Grand Master of North and East Yorkshire recovered
a very curious relic, in the form of an old brass Square found under
the foundation of an ancient bridge near Limerick, in 1830. On it
was inscribed the date, 1517, and the following words:
"Strive to live with love and care Upon the Level, by the Square."
How simple and beautiful it is, revealing the oldest wisdom man has
learned and the very genius of our Craft. In fact and truth, the
Square rules the Mason as well as the lodge in which he labors. As
soon as he enters a lodge, the candidate walks with square steps
round the square pavement of a rectangular lodge. All during the
ceremony his attitude keeps ;him in mind of the same symbol, as if
to fashion his life after its form. When he is brought to light, he
beholds the Square upon the Altar, and at the same time sees that it
is worn by the Master of the lodge, as the emblem of his office. In
the north east corner he is shown the perfect Ashlar, and told that
it the type of a finished Mason, who must be a Square-man in thought
and conduct, in word and act. With every art of emphasis the Ritual
writes this lesson in our hearts, and if we forget this first truth
the Lost Word will remain forever lost.
For Masonry is not simple a Ritual; it is a way of living. It offers
us a plan, a method, a faith by which we may build our days and
years into a character so strong and true that nothing, not even
death, can destroy it. Each of us has in his own heart a little
try-square called Conscience, by which to test each thought and deed
and word, whether it be true or false. By as much as a man honestly
applies that test in his own heart, and in his relations with his
fellows, by so much will his life be happy, stable, and true. Long
ago the question was asked and answered: "Lord, who shall abide in
thy tabernacle? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh
righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart." It is the first
obligation of a Mason to be on the Square, in all his duties and
dealing with his fellow men, and if he fails there he cannot win
anywhere. Let one of our poets sum it all up:
It Matters not whate'er your lot
or what your task may be
One duty there remains for you
, One duty stands for me.
Be you a doctor skilled and wise,
Or do your work for Wage,
A laborer upon the street,
An artist on the stage;
One glory still awaits for you.
one honor that is fair,
To have men say as you pass by:
"That Fellow's on the square."
Ah, here's a phrase that stands for much,
Tis good old English, too;
It means that men have confidence
In everything you do.
It means that what you have you've earned,
And that you've done your best
And when you go to sleep at night
Untroubled you may rest.
It means that conscience is your guide,
And honor is your care;
There is no greater praise than this:
"That fellow's on the square."
And when I die I would not wish
A lengthy epitaph;
I do not want a headstone large,
Carved with fulsome chaff.
Pick out no single deed of mine,
If such a deed there be,
To 'grave upon my monument,
For those who come to see.
Just this one phrase of all I choose,
To show my life was fair:
"Here sleepeth now a fellow who
was always on the square." |
