"An Address to a Fellowcraft"

It is usual for a Master to give a few words of welcome, and perhaps explanation, to a newly made Brother Initiate. It is seldom convenient, however, to give a similar welcome or explanation to a newly passed Fellow Craft because on so many occasions there are Entered Apprentices present, but in the absence of any brethren of the inferior degree the opportunity may well be taken of addressing the Fellow Craft.

I remember hearing it said when I was preparing for my Second Degree that there was not much in it to worry about.  The First, it was said, was a good one and so was the Third, but the Second was short and there was not much in it.  Some  such ideas have probably been expressed on many occasions, but in actual fact the Second Degree, to a thinking Mason, contains many points of beauty and striking interest.

May I for a moment give a broad view of its structure?  Like the First Degree it is very clearly separated into three distinct parts. You may remember that in your Initiation Ceremony the first portion, up to the Obligation, was concerned entirely with a symbolical preparation for Masonry.   You were temporarily stripped of all artificial distinctions of wealth, rank, and worldly knowledge, and emblematically reduced to a state in which all mankind are equal.  You came, however, of your own free will, recommended and approved; you satisfactorily answered three questions as to your motives and intentions; and above all you assured us that in all difficulties you trusted in God.   In such a manner, and by certain steps, you arrived at the Pedestal, and the second part of the ceremony then commenced, by which you effectively became a Mason, viz, The Obligation, the entrusting, the proving at the Wardens’ stations, and your investiture with the Badge.   Then followed the third part of the Ceremony, in which the lessons of the Degree were taught by means of illustration.   You will have no difficulty in remembering the corner-stone illustration, the impressive call to charity, the working tools and the many beauties of that ancient and comprehensive Charge.

The Second Degree is similarly divided.   In this case the first or preparatory section is devoted to a confirmation of the First Degree.   Again you came of your own free will, but no longer in a state of darkness.   You had digested the teachings of the First Degree and you came prepared to prove your proficiency,  which you did by answering questions, by communicating the secrets and by further communicating certain intermediate or connecting secrets.    You thereafter again approached the Pedestal by certain steps, and the second section of the Ceremony followed as in the First Degree, namely the obligation, entrusting, proving and investiture.   There was a noticeable point, however, about the Obligation, fittingly concluding the acts of confirmation of the First Degree.   In the first obligation, you may recollect, there was no undertaking to observe any of the teachings of the Craft.   Masonry is neither illogical nor unreasonable, and since your first Obligation was required of you before any teaching had been imparted, you could not be expected to take any vow in regard of it.   Your Obligation was, therefore, rightly restricted to a promise to preserve our secrets.   In the Second Obligation, however, there was recognition of the moral teaching of the Fist Degree, inasmuch as you solemnly swore to “maintain the principles inculcated in the former degree.”   You have now, therefore, accepted a responsibility which is in keeping with your “proof  of proficiency” and are pledged to an observance of the principles and tenets of the Entered Apprentice’s Degree.

The third section of the Second Degree Ceremony consists, again, of the teaching of the Degree, and here we notice a definite distinction between the two degrees.   In each case the teaching is by suggestion, by implication,  by thought-direction, rather than by direct conveyance of information, and whereas the First led your thoughts almost entirely to the cultivation of moral qualities,  the Second seems to suggest a more practical outlook on life.   The reference (particularly in the explanation of the Tracing Board) to the details of the building of the Temple, the division of labour, the nature of the rewards, the method of payment, the relationship between Master and worker, as well as the direction to study the Liberal Arts and Sciences, seem to lead us to consider the duty and the joy of a practical use of our capabilities.   We find ourselves contemplating the fact that apart from the refinement of our thoughts, so well encouraged in the First Degree, there is a dignity, as well as a duty to ourselves and our fellows, in usefulness, in doing things, in keeping abreast of the times, in making ourselves men of affairs, knowledgeable men and practical  men, in keeping our bodies fit as well as well as our minds, in acquiring skill according to our abilities, in taking off our coats and using the muscles and brains and intellect that God has given us, and in looking for- and accepting without diffidence- a due reward.   The very word “craftsman” could scarcely be better chosen.

May I next call your attention to that ascent in five.  It no doubt appeared strange and perhaps awkward, indeed I would forgive a candidate for deeming it a little ridiculous. Actually, however, it is full of meaning, as is every word and action in our Ritual.  In the first place it IS an ascent, to which I will refer again.  Secondly, it was in five.  You may remember that throughout the First Degree the number three was very evident; three principal officers, three assistant officers, three Greater Lights three Lesser Lights, three Working Tools, three divisions of the Twenty-Four Hours, the Three-Fold sign--token--and word, and numerous other instances.   I find myself in best harmony with the view that our Ritual is the result of gradual growth and is based on much earlier  Rituals, possibly developed from more than one source.  It has to be remembered that in ancient days learning was practically a monopoly of the Priestly Class.  Language was nothing like so rich as in modern times.  And offered considerably less possibility for the conveyance of refined thoughts.  The general level of intelligence among pupils too, was probably lower, and in order to impress finer principles on the minds of learners, language by itself would no doubt be found to fall short of ideal requirements.   Under such circumstances it is not difficult to visualise the use of forcible illustration, by signs, movements, by simple geometrical shapes, or by numbers suggesting such shapes.   The triangular number THREE has always, as far as we can trace, been given a special significance, the mystic or divine.  FOUR, we find, seems to have been associated with the human body or with human endeavour.  Plutarch develops this connection between the number FOUR and the human body.  It suggests a square, and is the number of the Cardinal human virtues, viz:- Prudence,   Temperance,  Fortitude and Justice, taught in the Charge to the Initiate.   It is when the human FOUR is combined with the divine THREE that we get the perfect SEVEN, and it may be noted that the Masonic Apron, intentionally or otherwise, gives a simple but perfect illustration of the combination of FOUR and THREE, although it is not usually held that the shape of the Apron has any emblematical significance, being rather of a purely practical origin.

As against THREE and FOUR, however, FIVE is essentially practical rather than symbolical.   It is an essential part of the tens, hundreds, and millions by which we measure money and tons and miles.   It is the number for the everyday arithmetician, rather than the dreamer, and it is, therefore, of special note that the approach to the pedestal in the Fellow Craft’s Degree should be by FIVE.   The divine THREE must still be predominant through all our ceremonies, but the practical FIVE is inserted here, just as the sign-token-and-word are increased to FIVE by the sign itself being threefold, to give subservient but clear point to the practical aspect of the Degree

There is a still more noticeable feature of that ascent.   All your movements up to that point , and other movements in the Lodge- such as the general perambulations and the Principal Officers’ way of entering and leaving their stations- had been made in a clockwise direction, or “way of the sun”.   Your ascent, however, as you may notice, was a rare instance of movement in the opposite direction, and if we look (as I have already suggested) to earlier methods of impressing by symbols and rituals, we may learn that in ancient ceremonies this movement in the anti-clockwise or “sinister” direction was associated with occasions of great solemnity or special effort.   We hear of warriors marching thrice sinister-wise round the body of a dead leader, and then thrice sun-wise to signify their allegiance to a new leader.   In another very ancient ritual, it is said  that the subject was made to descend in the easy, or clock-wise, direction to symbolise the ease with which the weak flesh can be conquered by temptation and give way to vice.   The “vile body” was illustrated as overcoming the higher intelligence, until the latter asserted itself  and, with divine aid, counselled a return.    The return was harder, repossession of character and the conquering of temptation being gradually accomplished step by step.   You will have no difficulty in seeing that the latter movement is exactly the same as the Fellow-Craft’s approach to the Middle Chamber, which may thus well have an origin symbolising a desire to rise above unworthy things to greater worthiness and to a due reward.

It is not always the case, perhaps, that real consideration is given to the way in which Plenty is “ usually depicted in our Lodges”.   That ear of corn and fall of water may at the moment have conveyed little to you.  Corn has always been considered the most obvious symbol of Nature Producing, or Nature Growing, and Water equally clearly symbolises fertility or the means of growth.  The passage from the First Degree to the Second is a moment of Masonic growth, and no better nor simpler symbol could be used than the Ear of Corn.   It may be asked “Why a Fall of Water?  Why not a river  or lake or canal?” Without questioning all the possible origins of the phrase, we can adopt for ourselves one satisfying reason, that the Sustenance, the Grace, by which we grow, mentally, morally, physically and spiritually, is not on our own level, but comes down from above, well illustrated by a fall of water rather than a flow of water.

So, Brother Fellow Craft, when you see another candidate taking those steps, try to realise that he is a growing Mason making a determined ascent to worthy things and a reward that awaits him in the Middle Chamber.  And here let me call your attention to the noticeable fact that whereas the description of the Temple itself is replete with details of  measurements, of ornaments, of materials used and labour employed, etc., we  are given no details of the interior of the Middle Chamber except one feature, and one alone.   Such scarcity of detail, in the midst of such plenty, can only be deliberate, and we can easily attach one reason to it-- an intention to emphasise and focus attention on that one single feature which is made known to us.

The feature, as you will remember is THE LETTER G.

That this is the focal point of the Degree can hardly be questioned.   You will be told a little later that in the Second Degree you were led to trace the intellectual faculty, (which may be considered synonymous with human effort, will and capability) “even to the Throne of God Himself”.   You may perhaps have missed the purport of the Closing Ceremony, if you heard it , of the Fellow Craft’s Degree.   This, as a Closing Ceremony should do, provides a perfect peroration, and leaves this same idea as a final thought to which the mind may cling.  “In this position, what have you discovered?”  “A Sacred Symbol”.   “Where is it situated?”   “In the Centre of the Building”.   “To whom does it allude ?” It needs little imagination to connect the Middle Chamber of the Temple with the “Centre of the Building” and from that to recognise the “Letter G”  as the Sacred Symbol.  In other words, “In this position”, I.E. Fidelity(first sign) and Perseverance (second sign) we make that ascent, and “discover” the giver of our final reward.

SO MOTE IT BE.