Page 4 Flashcards
What are the working tools of this degree?
The twenty four inch gauge and the common gavel.
The twenty four inch gauge is an instrument made use of by operative masons to measure and lay out their work.
But we, as free and accepted masons, are taught to make use of it for the noble and glorious purpose of dividing our time.
It being divided into twenty four equal parts is emblematic of the twenty four hours of the day, which we are taught to divide into three parts
Whereby we find a part for the service of God and a distressed, worthy brother, a part for our usual vocations, and a part for refreshment and repose.
The common gavel is an instrument used by operative masons to break off the rough and superfluous parts of 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 hearts and consciences of all the vices and superfluities of life
Thereby fitting our minds as living stones, for that spiritual building, that house not made with hands, eternal in the heaven
What was then demanded of you?
That I deposit some mineral or metal substance, not for its intrinsic value, but that it might be laid in the archive of the lodge as a testament that I was then and there made a Mason, and which was to teach me an important lesson in masonic charity
What was then done with you?
I was reconducted to the place whence I came, invested with that of which I had been divested, and on my return to the lodge, I was placed in the northeast corner thereof, on the first step of a Mason and the worshipful master was pleased to say to me, that I there stood a just and upright Mason, and as such he gave it to me strictly in charge, ever to walk and act.
What was then done with you?
I was seated in a chair and listened to the lecture of this degree.
Arise. Advance as an entered apprentice Mason, give the due guard and sign of that degree.
I hail.
I conceal
What do you conceal?
All the secrets of freemasonry, except it be to a true and lawful brother, or within the body of a just and legally constituted lodge.
What is this?
A grip
A grip of what?
The grip of an entered apprentice Mason
Has it a name?
It has
Give it to me.
I did not so receive it, neither will I so impart it
What will you do with it?
I will letter it with you
Begin?
No, you begin
Nay, begin you.
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