Section 3

The First Decree.
21
mend him, unless you are convinced he will con- form to our rules, that the honour and reputation of the Institution may be firmly established.
Your attention to this charge will lead us to hope that you will estimate the real value of Free- masonry, and imprint on your mind the dictates of Truth, Honour, and Justice.
The Second Degree,
#r, JtUofo
" The slimmer shall ripen what the spring began, 5SS5S5inw fires shall glow more fervent in the man.
(^ N the pursuit of Knowledge, the intellectual Mt faculties are employed in promoting the }S\ eiory of God, and the good of man. In ^ this Degree, the young Mason is repre- sented as having attained the age of Manhood and labouring to overcome the difficulties which beset him in the attainment of the hidden mysteries of learning and science, to which he is introduced and enjoined to study, so that he may see know- ledge rising out of its first elements, and be led, step by step, from simple ideas, through all the wind- iiigs and labyrinths of Truth, to the most exalted discoveries of the human Intellect. PRAYER AT OPENING. Oh God, Grand Geometrician, and Master of the Universe, we implore thee to cause the Light of
24 Reflected Rays of Light.
thy DivineAVisdom to shine upon us, and enlighten the dark ignorance of our souls, so that we may view the beauties of thy handiwork, and compre- hend more fully thy almighty power and goodness. il Such blessings from thy gracious hand, Our humble prayers implore : And thou shalt be our chosen God, A nd portion evermore. ' ' A men .
THE WORKING TOOLS
Of this Degree are the Square, Level, and Plumb. .
THE SQUARE
In this Degree is a very important instrument, as none can become a Fellow Craft without its assistance. It is the emblem of Morality and Virtue, reminding us to square our actions, and harmonise our conduct by the unalterable prin- ciples of the moral law as contained in the Holy Bible, and we are obligated to act upon the Square with all mankind, but especially with our Brethren in Masonry.
THE LEVEL
Is the emblem of Equality, and reminds us that we are descended from the same stock, partake of the same nature, and share the same hope. In the sight of God all men are equal ; and the time will come when all distinctions but that of good- ness shall cease, and Death, the grand leveller of human greatness, reduce us all to the same state.
THE PLUMB
- Is the emblem of Justness and Uprightness, and admonishes us to hold the scales of Justice in equal poise, and make our conduct coincide with the
The Second Degree. 25
line of our duty, which is to walk uprightly before God and man.
THE JEWELS.
The Three Symbolic or precious Jewels of a Fellow Craft are Faith, Flope and Charity.
FAITH IN GOD. " For humble Faith, with steadfast eye, Points to a brighter world on high.''1
HOPE IN IMMORTALITY.
u Daughter of Faith I Aivake, arise, illume The dread unknown, the Chaos of the tomb.'"
CHARITY TO ALL MANKIND
" Securer her votaries unblasted fame, And in celestial annals 'graves their name"
THE SABBATH
Should be regarded by every good Mason with reverence, being instituted by God as a day of rest and devotion,
" To spread the page of Scripture, and compare Our conduct with the laws engraven there"
THE TWO PILLARS OF BRASS,
Which were placed at the porch or entrance to King Solomon's Temple, are described in 1 Kings vii. 15-22, 2 Kings xxv. 17, Jer. Hi. 21-23, as being eighteen cul its high ; but, in 2 Chron. iii. 15-17, they are said to have been "thirty and five cubits high." This discrepancy is supposed to have arisen bv the aggregate height of both Pillars being given in Chronicles, and allowing half a cubit of each to be hidden in the joining holes of
26 Reflected Rays of Light.
the Chapiters. The Chapiters on the top were of molten brass, and five cubits in height. Although another discrepancy seemingly exists in 2 Kings xxv. 17, where it is said that they were only three cubits, but if we allow two cubits for the " wreathen work and pomegranates" described, they will amount to five cubits. The net work denotes Unity; the lily work, Peace; and the pomegranates, from the exuberance of their seed, Plenty. The Chapiters were also surmounted by two pommels or globes (1 Kings vii. 41 ; 2 Chron. iv. 12), which, according to Masonic tradition, were the archives of Masonry, and contained the maps and charts of the celestial and terrestial bodies, denoting the universality of Masonry, and that a Mason's charity should be equally exten- sive, bounded only by Prudence, and ruled by Discretion, so that real want and merit may be re- lieved, and the knave prevented from eating the bread which Virtue in distress ought to have. Pillars of such magnitude, strength, and beauty could not but attract the attention of those who beheld them, and impress upon their minds the idea of strength and stability which their names imply, and will be remembered by every Mason. The destruction of these immense pillars, the mag- nificent temple, and city, is significant of the weak- ness and instability of human greatness, and th at our strength can only be in God; and faith in h-im is the only foundation on which we can build our future temple of happiness to stand firm for ever. 2 Sam. xii. 17 ; 1 Kings ix. 3-7.
THE WINDING STAIR.
Having passed the pillars of the porch, the Candidate, seeking for more light by the myste-
The Second Degree*. 27
ries contained in the Second Degree, must approach the east by a supposed Winding Stair, syml olically leading from the ground floor to the Middle Cham- ber of Masonry. The only reference to it in scrip- ture is in 1 Kings vi. 8.
Before entering the Middle Chamber, where as Masons, we are told that the Fellow Craft went to receive their wages, they had to give a certain password, in proof that they were not importers. This password was instituted at the time when Jephtha put the Ephraimites to flight, and .'lew forty and two thousand at the different fords and passes of the river Jordan (Judges xii. 1-7). The word Shibboleth means the ford of a river, or an ear of corn, and is depicted on the Tracing Bo: rd by an ear of corn near a stream of water ; but, as speculaiive Masons, it is the lesson which this symbol is intended to illustrate that we have to consider, for, by historical facts and natural rea- sons, we cannot suppose that the legend as re- hearsed in the lodge-room is anything more than a philosophical myth. Masonic Symbolism shows the Candidate as always rising towards a higher state of perfection. In the first degree, we have the Theological Ladder, impressing this idea ; in the Second Degree, we have the Winding Stair- case, symbolising the laborious ascent to eminence in the attainment of the hidden mysteries of learn- ing and science. The Symbolic Staircase is com- posed of three, five, seven, or other unequal numter of steps.
The Three Steps represent youth, or the Degree of the Entered Apprentice, viz. — 1st, his being born to Masonic life ; 2nd, his ignorance of the world in his childhood ; 3rd, the lessons which he receives in his youth to prepare his mind for
2S Reflected Rays of Light
the instruction which is given in the succeeding Degrees ; they also allude to the three supports, Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty.
The Five Steps allude to Manhood, or the Fellow Craft Degree, the Five Orders of Archi- tecture, and the Five Human Senses.
The Seven Steps refer to Old Age. or the Third Degree ; the seven Sabbatical Years, seven Years of Famine, seven Golden Candlesticks, seven Planets, seven Days of the Week, seven Years in Building the Temple, seven Wonders of the World, &c, but more especially to the seven liberal Arts and Sciences. The total number of Steps, amount- ing 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, n% were, in their numerical value, equivalent to fif- teen ; the Fifteen Steps of the Winding Stair are 15 15 15 15 therefore symbolic of the name of God ; and hence a figure, in which the nine digits were so disposed as to count "fifteen either way when added together perpendicularly, 15 ' horizontally, or diagonally, con-
15 stituted one of their most sacred
talismans.
Masons are indebted for the symbol of odd numbers to Pythagoras, who considered them more perfect than even ones ; therefore, odd num- bers predominate in Masonry, and are intended to symbolise the idea of perfection. In ancient times it was considered a fortunate omen, when ascend- ing a stair, to commence with the right foot, and find the same foot foremost at the top ; and this is said to be the reason why ancient temples were ascended by an odd number of steps.
8 16
3 5 7
4 9 ! 2
The Second Degree, £9
It is then as a symbol, and a symbol only, that we study the legend of the Winding Staircase ; to adopt it as an historical fact, the absurdity of its details stares us in the face. What could be more absurd than to believe that eighty thousand crafts- men had to ascend such a stair, to the narrow , precincts of the Middle Chamber, to receive their wages in corn, wine, and in oil ? Taken as an allegory, we see beauty in it, as it sets before us the picture of a Mason's duty, — to be ever on the search for knowledge, even though the steps in the attainment of it are winding and difficult ; but by study and perseverance we will gain our re- ward, and that reward more precious than either money, corn, oil, or wine — 2 Chron. ii. 15.
Having passed into the Middle Chamber, the attention of Fellow Crafts is drawn to the letter G. or rp placed conspicuous in the centre of it, to de- note Geometry, the science on which this Degree is founded, but it refers more especially to G. \T. \ G.\G.\0.\T.\U.\
CORN, WINE, OIL,
Are emblematical of
Plenty, Cheerfulness, Peace. ARCHITECTURE.
Architecture is the art of building edifices, either for habitation or defence, and with respect to its objects, maybe divided into three branches — Civil, Military, and Naval. Nature and necessity taught the first inhabitants of the earth to build huts to shelter them from the rigour of the seasons, and inclemency of the weather, which, in course of lime, they improved ; and, after attaining what was useful and necessary, luxury and ambition caused them to ornament their buildings.
3
THE ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE.
The Origin of the Orders of Architecture is almost as ancient as human society. At first the trunks of trees were set on end, while others were laid across to support the covering, hence, it is said, arose the idea of more regular archi- tecture, the trees on end representing columns, the girts or bands which connected them ex- press the bases and capitals, and the bressum- ers laid across gave the hint of entablatures, s the coverings ending in points did of pedi- nents. This is the hypothesis of Vitruvius. Others believe that columns took their rise from pyramids, which the ancients erected over their tombs, and the urns which enclosed the ashes oi the .dead represented the capitals, while a brick or stone laid thereon as a cover formed the abacus. The Greeks, however, were the first to regulate the height of their columns on the proportion of the human body, the Doric representing a strong man ; the Ionic, a woman ; and the Corinthian, a girl.
The various Orders took their names from the people among whom they were invented, and are thus classed — The Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corin- thian, and Composite. Scamozzi uses significant terms to express their character ; he calls the Tuscan, the Gigantic; the Doric, the Herculean; the Ionic, the Matronal ; the Corinthian, the Virginal ; the Composite, the Heroic.
THE TUSCAN
Is the most simple and solid ; its column is seven diameters high, the capital, base, and entablature having few mouldings or ornaments.
TJie Second Degree* 31
THE DORIC
Is said to be the most ancient and best propor- tioned of all the orders ; it has no ornaments on base or capital except mouldings. The height is eight diameters, and its frieze is divided by Trigiyphs and Metopes ; the oldest example ex- tant is at Corinth.
THE IONIC
Bears a kind of mean proportion between the more solid and delicate orders ; the capital is or- namented with volutes, and its cornice with den- ticles. The column is nine diameters. Michael Angelo gives it a single row of leaves at the bottom of the capital.
THE CORINTHIAN
Is ten diameters high, and its capital is adorned with two rows of leaves and eight volutes, which sustain the abacus, and the cornice is ornamented with denticles and modillions. Vitruvius relates the following narrative of its invention : — " Calli- machus, accidentally passing the tomb of a young lady, he perceived a basket of toys, covered with a tile, placed over an ancthus root, having been left there by her nurse. As the branches grew up, they encompassed the basket, till, arriving at tLj tile, they met with an obstruction, and bent down- wards. Struck with the beauty of the arrangement, he set about imitating the figure, the basket repre- senting the base of the capital ; the tile, the abacus ; and the bending leaves, the volutes." « Foliated capitals of much greater antiquity than any dis- covered in Greece, are, however, to be found in Egypt and Asia Minor; and Villalpandus says " that it took its origin from an Order in SUJUv-
32 Reflected Rays of Light.
mon's Temple, the leaves whereof were those 01 the palm tree."
THE COMPOSITE
Is so called because it is composed of the other orders ; the column is ten diameters high, and its cornice has denticles, or simple modillions.
There are, however, many other styles of archi- tecture. The Teutonic is distinguished by semi- circular arches, and massive plain columns.
The Gothic is distinguished by its lightness and profuse ornament, pointed arches, and pillars, carved so as to imitate several conjoined. The Egyptians, Chinese, Hindoos, Moors, &c, have each their own styles of ornamental buildings, and splendid specimens are to be seen in their several countries.
THE FIVE SENSES.
An analysis of the human faculties is next given in this Degree, in which the five external Senses particularly claim attention, as they are the root or foundation "of all human knowledge. It will * be seen, by a careful consideration of the functions of the Five Senses, that sensation and reflection are the great sources of human knowledge, and that they are the means by which all our first ideas and information are acquired, because external ob- jects act first on our senses, and rouse us to a con- sciousness of their existence, and convey distinct impressions to the mind, according to the manner in which they affect us ; the mind, storing up and remembering these impressions, assembles them, and compares one with another, and thus we acquire a new and more complex set of ideas, in which we observe variety, uniformity, simili-
The Second Degree, 33
tude, symmetry, novelty, grandeur, and reference to an end ; and by the mind reflecting upon what passes within itself, creates another set of impres- sions no less distinct than those conveyed to it by the senses. Sensation is, therefore, the great source of human knowledge, and, at the same time, the boundary beyond which our concep- tions cannot reach, for we are unable to find one original idea, which has not been derived from sensation. But we are not to conclude that, be- cause solid and thinking beings are the only ideas of existence which we are able to form, that there may not be a class of beings superior to mankind, enjoying other powers of perception unknown to us ; we might as well conclude that the want of the ideas of light and colour, in a man born blind, would be an argument against the reality or possibility of their existence —
" For though things sensible be numberless. But only jive the senses'1 organs be And in those five, ail things their forms express^ Which we can touch, taste \ s?nell, hear, or see."
THE EYE
Is the organ of Sight, and seeing is that sense by which we distinguish objects, forms, colours, motion, rest, and distance or space, &c.
" The beams of light had been in vain displayed, Had not the eye been fit for vision made ; In vain the Author had the eye prepared With so much skill, had not the light appeared"
HEARING
Is the sense by which we distinguish sounds, and enjoy all ihe charms of music; by it we are en-
3
34 Reflected Rays of Light.
abled to communicate with each other, and enjoy the pleasures of society, and avoid many dangers that we would otherwise be exposed to. " Is there a heart thai music cannot melt? Alas ! how is that rugged heart forlorn ! Is there who ne'er those mystic transports fell Of solitude and melancholy born T*
FEELING
Is the Sense by which we acquire ideas of hard- ness and softness, roughness and smoothness, heat and cold, &a, and is the most universal of our senses.