Page 26 Remarks on the First Lecture.WE shall now enter on a disquisition of the different sections of the lectures appropriated to the several degrees of Masonry, giving a brief summary of the whole, and annexing to every remark the particulars to which the section alludes. |
Page 27 By these means the industrious Mason will be instructed in the regular arrangement of the sections in each lecture, and be enabled with more ease to acquire a knowledge of the art. The first lecture of Masonry is divided into three sections, and each section into different clauses. Virtue is painted in the most beautiful colors, and the duties of morality are enforced. In it we are taught such useful lessons as prepare the mind for a regular advancement in the principles of knowledge and philosophy. These are imprinted on the memory by lively and sensible images, to influence our conduct in the proper discharges of the duties of social life.
The First SectionIn this lecture is suited to all capacities, and may and ought to be known by every person who ranks as a Mason. It consists of general heads, which, though short and simple, carry weight with them. They not only serve as marks of distinction, but communicate useful and interesting knowledge, when they are duly investigated. They qualify us to try and examine the rights of others to our privileges, while they prove ourselves; and, as they induce us to inquire more minutely into other particulars of greater importance, they serve as an introduction to subjects more amply explained in the following sections. |
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A PRAYER,Used at the Initiation of a Candidate.
It is a duty incumbent on every Master of a Lodge, before the ceremony of initiation takes place, to inform the candidate of the purpose and design of the institution; to explain the nature of his solemn engagements; and, in a manner peculiar to Masons alone, to require his cheerful acquiescence to the duties of morality and virtue, and all the sacred tenets of the Order. |
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Toward the close of the section is explained that peculiar ensign of Masonry,
THE LAMB-SKIN,
Or white leather apron, which is an emblem of innocence, and the badge of a Mason: more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle; more honorable than the Star and Garter, or any other Order that could be conferred upon the candidate at the time of his initiation, or at any time thereafter, by king, prince, potentate, or |
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Is an instrument made use of 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 make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of divesting our minds and consciences of all the vices and superfluities of life, thereby fitting our bodies, as living stones, for that spiritual building - that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
The Second SectionRationally accounts for the origin of our hieroglyphical instruction, and convinces us of the advantages which will ever accompany a faithful observance of our duty. It maintains, beyond the power of contradiction, the propriety of our rites, while it demonstrates to the most skeptical and hesitating mind their excellency and utility; it illustrates, at the same time, certain particulars, of which our ignorance might lead us into error, and which, as Masons, we are indispensably bound to know. To make a daily progress in the art is our constant duty, and expressly required by our general |
Page 32 laws. What end can be more noble than the pursuit of virtue? what motive more alluring than the practice of justice? or what instruction more beneficial than an accurate elucidation of symbolical mysteries which tend to embellish and adorn the mind? Every thing that strikes the eye more immediately engages the attention, and imprints on the memory serious and solemn truths: hence Masons, universally adopting this method of inculcating the tenets of their Order by typical figures and allegorical emblems, prevent their mysteries from descending into the familiar reach of inattentive and unprepared novices, from whom they might not receive due veneration. Our records inform us that the usages and customs of Masons have ever corresponded with those of the Egyptian philosophers, to which they bear a near affinity. Unwilling to expose their mysteries to vulgar eyes, they concealed their particular tenets and principles of polity under hieroglyphical figures, and expressed their notions of government by signs and symbols, which they communicated to their Magi alone, who were bound by oath not to reveal them. The Pythagorean system seems to have been established. on a similar plan, and many Orders of a more recent date. Masonry, however, is not only the most ancient, but the most moral institution that ever subsisted; every character, figure, and emblem depicted in a Lodge has a moral tendency, and inculcates the practice of virtue. |
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THE BADGE OF A MASON.EVERY candidate, at his initiation, is presented with a lamb-skin, or white leather apron.
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SQUARE, LEVEL, AND PLUMB,
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This section, though the last in rank, is not the least considerable in importance. It strengthens those which precede, and enforces in the most engaging manner a due regard to character and behavior in public as well as in private life, in the Lodge as well as in the general commerce of so ciety. It forcibly inculcates the most instructive lessons. Brotherly love, relief, and truth are themes on which we here expatiate.
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To this illustration succeeds an explanation of the four cardinal virtues - Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, and Justice; the illustration of which virtues is accompanied with some general observations peculiar to Masons.
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Such is the arrangement of the different sections in the first lecture, which, with the forms adopted at the opening and closing of a Lodge, comprehends the whole of the first degree of Masonry. This plan has the advantage of regularity to recommend it, the support of precedent and authority, and the sanction and respect which flow from antiquity. The whole is a regular system of morality, conceived in a strain of interesting allegory, which must unfold its beauties to the candid and industrious inquirer.
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