THE SHORT TALK BULLETIN |
... The Square ...
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."