THE SQUARE
The Holy Bible lies open upon the Alter 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 Trade- Mark, 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, universally recognized as existing; whether
comprehended by all or not, is not material to this issue." They belong to us,
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 in man. 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.
Et us separate the Square from the Compasses and study it alone, the better
to see its 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 a 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 and rightness. As stones are cut it 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 try-square has always been a symbol of
morality, 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 and 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 times 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 wide-spread in our time, and finding so many able
and plausible advocates - strikes at the foundation, not only of Masonry, but of
all ordered and advancing social life. Once 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 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 of 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 a 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 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 them do unto him; and the writers adds, "This is
called the principle of acting on 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 the square steps around 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 is the type of a
finished Mason, who must be 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 simply 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 dealings 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; Our 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 wish 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."
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