SECTION III.

SECTIOX III,
MANFS, ly ! Xi:'.
Pedes, — *
tliu Ilaiuls.
the Feet.
40
DEGREE OF ENTERED APPRENTICE
The first, or Entered Apprentice degree of Masonry, la intended, symbolically, to represent the entrance of man into the world, in which he is afterwards to become a living and thinking actor. Coming from the ignorance and darkness of the outer world, his first craving is for light — not tiiat phys- ical light which springs from the great orb of day as its fountain, but that moral and intellectual light which ema- nates from the primal Source of all things — from the Grand Architect of the Universe — the Creator of the sun and of all that it illuminates. Hence the groat, the primary object of the first degree, is to symbolize that birth of intellectual light into the mind; and the Entered Apprentice is the type of unregenerate man, groping in moral and mental darkness, and seeking for tlie light whioh is to guide his steps and point him to the path which leads to duty and to Him wha gives to duty its reward.
FIRST LECTURE.
Thb first step taken by a candidate, on entering a Lodge of Freemasons, tenches him the pernicious tendency of infi- delity, and shows him that the foundation on which Masonry rests is the belief and acknowledgment of a Supreme Being,- that in Him alone a sure confidence can be safely placed, to protect his st«ps in all the dangers and difficulties be may
52 GENERAL AHIMAN EEZON.
be called to encounter in his progress through life; it assures him that, if his faith be well founded in that Being, he may confidently pursue his course without fear and without danger
Every candidate, previous to his reception, is required to give bis free and full assent to the following interrogatories, in a room adjacent to the Lodge:
1. Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, that, unbiased by the improper solicitation of friends, and uninfluenced by mercenary motives, you freely and voluntarily offer yourself a can- date for the mysteries of Freemasonry?
2. Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, that you are prompted to solicit the privileges of Treemasonry by a favorable opinion conceived of the institution, a desire of knowledge, and a sincere wish of being serviceable to your fellow- creatures ?
3. Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, Uiat you wiU cheerfully conform to all the ancient usages and established customs of the Fraternity?