FELLOWCRAFT DEGREE
MIDDLE CHAMBER LECTURE
My Brother, the second section of this degree is
principally devoted to the explanation of physical
science, and by the studies attached thereto, the
mind is improved and elevated to a communion
with its Maker. Circumstances of importance to
the Craft, and of peculiar interest to the Mason
who delights in the study of the mystic beauties
of his profession, are here developed and
explained.
The second section of this degree also has
reference to the origin of the institution, and views
Masonry under two denominations, operative and
Speculative.
By operative masonry, we allude to the proper
application of the useful rules of architecture,
whence a structure will derive figure, strength
and beauty, and whence will result a due
proportion and just correspondence in all its parts.
It furnishes us with dwellings and convenient
shelter from the vicissitudes and inclemencies of
seasons; and while it displays the effects of human
wisdom, as well in the choice as in the
arrangement of the sundry materials of which an
edifice is composed, it demonstrates that a fund
of science and industry is implanted in man for
the best most salutary and beneficent purposes.
By Speculative, or Free, Masonry, we learn to
subdue the passions, act upon the Square, keep
a tongue of good report, maintain secrecy, and
practice charity. It is so far interwoven with
religion as to lay us under obligation to pay that
rational homage to the Deity which at once
constitutes our duty and our happiness. It leads
the contemplative to view with reverence and
admiration the glorious works of creation, and
inspires him with the most exalted ideas of the
perfection of his Divine Creator.
The second section of this degree also refers to
the origin of the Jewish Sabbath, as well as to
the manner in which it was kept by our ancient
Brethren.
In six days God created the heaven and the earth,
and rested on the seventh day; the seventh,
therefore, our ancient Brethren consecrated as
a day of rest from their labor, thereby enjoying
frequent opportunities to contemplate the glorious
works of Creation, and to adore their Great
Creator.
At the building of King Solomon’s Temple there
were eighty thousand Fellow Crafts employed.
These were all under the immediate direction of
our ancient Operative Grand Master Hiram Abif.
On the evening of the sixth day their work was
inspected, and all who had proved themselves
worthy, by strict fidelity to their duties, were
invested with certain mystic signs, grips, and
words, to enable them to gain admission into the
Middle Chamber of King Solomon’s Temple. On
the same day and hour, King Solomon,
accompanied by his confidential officers,
consisting of his Secretary, Senior and Junior
Wardens, repaired to the Middle Chamber to meet
them.
His Secretary he placed near his person, the
Senior Warden at the inner and the Junior Warden
at the outer door, giving them strict instructions
to suffer none to enter except such as were in
possession of certain mystic signs, grips, and
words, previously established, so that when any
did enter, he, knowing that they must have been
faithful workmen or they could not have gained
admission, had nothing to do but order their names
recorded as such, and pay them their wages,
which they received in corn, wine and oil,
emblematical of nourishment, refreshment and joy,
and after solemnly admonishing them of the
reverence due the great and sacred name of Deity,
suffered them to depart in peace until the time
should arrive to commence the following week’s
work.
This, you will perceive, was all accomplished on
the evening of the sixth day, that there might be
no unnecessary labor performed on the seventh,
that being a day set apart for rest and meditation.
We, my Brother, are in possession of the same
mystic signs, grips and words as were our ancient
Brethren, and are about to endeavor to work our
way into a place representing the Middle Chamber
of King Solomon’s Temple, and should we
succeed, I have no doubt we shall be alike
received and rewarded.
In doing this it will be necessary for us to make
an advance, emblematically, through a porch, up
a flight of winding stairs consisting of three, five,
and seven steps, through an outer and inner door.
In making this advance we necessarily pass
between two pillars or columns, representing
those pillars erected at the entrance to the porch
of King Solomon’s Temple; one on the right hand,
the other on the left. The name of the one on the
left hand was Boaz, denoting strength; the name
of the one on the right, Jachin, denoting
establishment, collectively alluding to several
promises of God to David, one of which reads:
"And thine house and thy kingdom shall be
established forever before thee."
"Also he made before the house two pillars of
thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that
was on the top of each of them was five cubits."
Their composition was of molten or cast brass,
the better to withstand inundation or conflagration,
that they might not be removed by flood or
destroyed by fire. They were cast in the clay
grounds on the banks of the River Jordan,
between Succoth and Zeredatha, where King
Solomon ordered these and all the sacred vessels
of the Temple to be cast. They were cast hollow
for the purpose of containing the rolls and records
which composed the archives of our ancient
Brethren.
The chapiters were adorned with leaves of lilywork,
network and chains of pomegranates, denoting
Peace, Unite, and Plenty. The Lily, from its
extreme whiteness, as well as the retired situation
in which it grows, denotes Peace; the Network,
from the intimate connection of all its parts, Unity;
and the Pomegranate, from the exuberance of its
seed, Plenty.
These pillars are surmounted by two artificial
spherical bodies, on the convex surfaces of which
are represented the countries, seas, and various
parts of the earth; the face of the heavens, the
planetary revolutions, and other important
particulars.
Contemplating these bodies, we are inspired with
a due reverence for the Deity and His works,
and are induced to encourage the studies of
astronomy, geography, navigation, and the arts
dependent on them, by which society has been
so much benefited.
Passing between these columns, the next object
to which our attention is particularly drawn is a
representation of a flight of winding stairs,
consisting of three, five, and seven steps, each
of which has certain Masonic significance.
The three steps allude to the Three Great Lights
in Masonry, the Holy Bible, Square and
Compasses; also to the three principal officers
of the Lodge, the Worshipful Master, Senior and
Junior Wardens, who represent the three great
supports of Masonry: Wisdom, Strength and
Beauty, it being necessary that there should be
wisdom to contrive, strength to support, and
beauty to adorn all great and important
undertakings.
The three steps also allude to the great luminary
of creation as he appears to us at the three
principal points of observation: he rises in the
east to open the day with a mild and gentle
influence, and all Nature rejoices at the
appearance of his beams; he gains his meridian
in the south, invigorating all things with the
perfection of his ripening qualities; with declining
strength he sets in the west to close the day,
leaving mankind to rest from their labor.
This is the type of the three principal stages in
the life of man; infancy, manhood, and age.
The first of these is characterized by the blush of
innocence as pure as the tints that gild the eastern
portals of the day; and the heart rejoices in the
unsuspecting integrity of its own unblemished
virtue, nor fears deceit, because it knows no guile.
Manhood succeeds; the ripening intellect attains
the meridian of its powers. At the approach of old
age, strength decays - his sun is setting in the
west. Enfeebled by sickness and bodily
infirmities, he lingers on until death finally closes
his eventful day, and happy is he if the setting
splendors of a virtuous life gild his departing
moments with the gentle tints of Hope, and close
his short career in peace, harmony, and brotherly
love.
Ponder well, my Brother, upon the wisdom taught
by these emblems, and be admonished:
"That when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and
soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."
We will make a further advance and ascend the
five steps. The five steps allude to the five orders
of architecture, and the five human senses.
By order in architecture is meant a system of all
the members, proportions and ornaments of
columns and pilasters; or it is the regular
arrangement of the projecting parts of a building,
which, united with those of a column, form a
beautiful, perfect and complete whole.
From the first formation of society, order in
architecture may be traced. When the rigors of
seasons obliged men to contrive shelter from the
inclemency of the weather, we learn that they
first planted trees on end, and then laid others
across to support a covering.
The bands which connected those trees at top
and bottom are said to have given rise to the
idea of the base and capital of pillars, and from
this simple hint originally proceeded the more
improved art of architecture.
The five orders are thus classed: the Tuscan,
Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite.
The ancient and original orders of architecture
revered by Masons are no more than three - the
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, which were invented
by the Greeks. To these the Romans have added
two - the Tuscan, which they made plainer than
the Doric, and the Composite, which was more
ornamental, if not more beautiful than the
Corinthian. The first three orders alone, however,
show invention and particular character, and
essentially differ from each other; the two others
have nothing but what is borrowed, and differ
only accidentally. The Tuscan is the Doric in its
earliest state, and the Composite is the Corinthian
enriched with the Ionic. To the Greeks, therefore,
and not to the Romans, we are indebted for that
which is great, judicious and distinct in
architecture.
The five human senses are Hearing, Seeing,
Feeling, Smelling and Tasting, the first three of
which have ever been deemed prerequisite to
being made a Mason, for by Hearing we hear
the word, Shibboleth; by Seeing, we see the sign;
and by Feeling, we feel that friendly and brotherly
grip whereby one Mason may know another in
the dark as in the light.
We will now make a still further advance and
ascend the seven steps. The seven steps allude
to the seven liberal arts and sciences, which are:
Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry,
Music, and Astronomy.
Grammar is the science which teaches us how
to express our ideas in appropriate words, which
we afterward beautify and adorn with Rhetoric;
while Logic instructs us how to think and reason
with propriety, and to make language subordinate
to thought.
Arithmetic, which is the science of computing by
numbers, is absolutely essential, not only to a
thorough knowledge of all mathematical science,
but also to a proper pursuit of our daily vocations.
Geometry treats of the powers and properties of
magnitudes in general, where length, breadth and
thickness are considered - from a point to a line,
from a line to a superficies, and from a superficies
to a solid.
A point is the beginning of all geometrical matter.
A line is the continuation of the same.
A superficies has length and breadth without a
given thickness.
A solid has length and breadth with a given
thickness, which forms a cube and comprehends
the whole.
By this science the architect is enabled to
construct his plans and execute his designs; the
general to arrange his soldiers; the engineer to
mark out grounds for encampments; the
geographer to give the dimensions of the world
and all things therein contained - to delineate the
extent of the seas, and specify the divisions of
empires, kingdoms and provinces. By it also,
the astronomer is enabled to make his
observations, and to fix the duration of times and
seasons, years and cycles. In fine, Geometry is
the foundation of architecture and the root of
mathematics.
To be without a perception of the charms of Music
is to be without the finer traits of humanity. It is
the medium which gives the natural world
communication with the spiritual, and few are they
who have not felt its power and acknowledged its
expressions to be intelligible to the heart. It is a
language of delightful sensations, far more
eloquent than words. It breathes to the ear the
clearest intimations; it touches and gently agitates
the agreeable and sublime passions; it wraps us
in melancholy and elevates us to joy; it dissolves
and inflames; it melts us in tenderness and excites
us to war.
It has a voice for every age and a capacity for
every degree of taste and intelligence. Its lullaby
soothes the infant in its mother’s arms; its joyous
notes wing the tripping feet of the dancers on the
green; its martial tones inspire the spirit of
patriotism, nerve the warrior’s arm, and fire his
heart. The stirring strains of national airs, heard
on the rough edge of battle, have ever thrilled the
soldier, causing him to burn with an emulous
desire to lead the perilous advance, and animating
him to deeds of heroic valor and the most sublime
devotion. Amid the roar of cannon, the din of
musketry and the carnage of battle, he is stricken
to the dust.
Raising himself to take one last long look on life,
he hears in the distance that plaintive strain,
"Home, Sweet Home."
It was our mother’s evening hymn, and has often
lulled us to sleep in infancy. The mellowing tides
of old cathedral airs, vibrating through aisles and
arches, have stilled the ruffled spirit, and
sweeping aside the discordant passions of men,
have bourne them along its resistless current,
until their united voices have joined in sounding
aloud the chorus of the heaven-born anthem:
"Peace on earth, good will toward men."
But music never sounds with such seraphic
harmony as when employed in singing hymns of
gratitude to the Creator of the Universe:
"Be Thou, O God, exalted high,
And as Thy glory fills the sky,
So let it be on earth displayed,
Till Thou art here, as there, obeyed."
Astronomy is that sublime science which inspires
the contemplative mind to soar aloft and read the
wisdom, strength and beauty of the Great Creator
in the heavens. How nobly eloquent of the Deity
is the celestial hemisphere - spangled with the
most magnificent heralds of His infinite glory!
They speak to the whole universe; for there is no
people so barbarous as to fail to understand their
language; no nation so distant that their voices
are not heard among them.
My Brother, we are now approaching a place
representing the outer door to the Middle
Chamber of King Solomon’s Temple, which we
will find partly open but closely tyled by the Junior
Warden, who will doubtless demand of us the
pass-word of a Fellow Craft. Let us advance
and make a regular alarm.
SD: * * *.
JW: Who comes here?
SD: Fellow Crafts endeavoring to work their way into
a place representing the Middle Chamber of King
Solomon’s Temple.
JW: How do you expect to gain admission?
SD: By the pass-word of a Fellow Craft.
JW: Give it.
SD: Shibboleth.
JW: What does it denote?
SD: Plenty.
JW: How represented?
SD: By a sheaf of corn, suspended near a waterfall,
which teaches us that while we have bread to eat
and pure refreshing water to drink, we have all
that necessity requires.
JW: By whom instituted?
SD: By Jephthah, a Judge of Israel, in a war with the
Ephraimites. The Ephraimites had long been a
stubborn and rebellious people, whom Jephthah
had striven to subdue by mild and lenient
measures, but without effect. They were highly
incensed at Jephthah for not being called to fight
and share in the rich spoils of the Ammonitish
war, and gathered together a mighty army,
crossed the River Jordan, and prepared to give
Jephthah battle; but, being apprised of their
approach, he called together the men of Israel,
went forth, gave them battle, and put them to flight;
and to make his victory more complete he
stationed guards at the different passes along
the banks of the River Jordan and said unto them,
"If ye see any strangers pass this way, say unto
them, ‘Now say ye, Shibboleth,’ but the
Ephraimites, being of a different tribe, could not
frame to pronounce the word and said ‘Sibboleth.’
This trifling defect proved them to be enemies
and cost them their lives, and there fell that day
on the field of battle and at the different passes
along the banks of the River Jordan, forty and
two thousand, after which Jephthah ruled quietly
in Israel until the time of his death, in all about six
years.
This was what affected us to distinguish a friend
from a foe, and has since been adopted as the
pass-word to be given before entering any regular
and well governed Lodge of Fellow Crafts.
JW: I am satisfied; pass on.
SD: My Brother, we are now approaching a place
representing the inner door to the Middle
Chamber of King Solomon’s Temple, which we
will find partly open but closely tyled by the Senior
Warden, who will doubtless demand of us the
real grip and word of a Fellow Craft. Let us
advance and make a regular alarm.
SD: * * *.
SW: *. Who comes here?
SD: Fellow Crafts endeavoring to work their way into
a place representing the Middle Chamber of King
Solomon’s Temple.
SW: How do you expect to gain admission?
SD: By the real grip and word of a Fellow Craft.
SW: Advance and give it. What is that?
SD: The real grip of a Fellow Craft.
SW: Has it a name?
SD: It has.
SW: Will you give it to me?
SD: I did not so receive it; neither will I so impart it.
SW: How will you dispose of it?
SD: Letter or halve it.
SW: Letter it and begin.
SD: You begin.
SW: Begin you.
SD: A;
SW: J;
SD: C;
SW: H;
SD: I;
SW: N.
SD: Jachin.
SW: I am satisfied; pass on and in.
SD: My Brother, we are now in a place representing
the Middle Chamber of King Solomon’s Temple.
Behold the letter G, suspended in the East! It is
the initial of Geometry, the first and noblest of
sciences, and the basis on which the
superstructure of Freemasonry is erected. By
Geometry we may curiously trace Nature through
her various windings to her most concealed
recesses; by it we discover the power, wisdom
and goodness of the Grand Artificer of the
Universe, and view with delight the proportions
which compose this vast machine; by it we
discover how the planets move in their respective
orbits, and demonstrate their various revolutions;
by it we count for the return of the seasons, and
the variety of scenes which each season displays
to the discerning eye. Numberless worlds are
around us, all framed by the same Divine Artist,
which roll through the vast expanse, and are all
conducted by the same unerring law of Nature.
A survey of Nature, and the observations of her
beautiful proportions, first determined man to
imitate the Divine Plan and study symmetry and
order. This gave rise to societies and birth to
every useful art. The architect began to design,
and the plans which he laid down, being improved
by time and experience, have produced works
which are the admiration of every age.
The lapse of time, the ruthless hand of ignorance,
and the devastations of war have laid waste and
destroyed many valuable monuments of antiquity,
on which the utmost exertions of human genius
have been employed. Even the Temple of
Solomon, so spacious and magnificent, and
constructed by so many celebrated artists,
escaped not the unsparing ravages of barbarous
force. Freemasonry, notwithstanding, still
survives. The attentive ear receives the sound
from the instructive tongue, and the mysteries of
Freemasonry are safely lodged in the repository
of faithful breasts.
Ages ago, upon the Eastern plains, was our
institution set up, founded upon principles more
durable than the metal wrought into the statues
of ancient kings. Age after age rolled by; storm
and tempest hurled their thunders at its head;
wave after wave of bright insidious sands curled
about its feet and heaped their sliding grains
against its sides; men came and went in fleeting
generations; seasons fled like hours through the
whirling wheel of time; but through the attrition of
the waves and sands of life - through evil report
as well as good, Freemasonry has maintained
its beneficent influence, spreading wider and
wider over the earth.
Tools and implements of architecture and
symbolic emblems most expressive have been
selected by the Fraternity to imprint on the mind
wise and serious truths, and thus through the
succession of ages have been transmitted,
unimpaired, the most excellent tenets or our
institution.
Every Brother admitted within the walls of this
Middle Chamber should heed the lessons here
inculcated, and consider that as a Freemason
he is a builder, not of a material edifice, but of a
temple more glorious than that of Solomon - a
temple of honor, of justice, of purity, of knowledge,
and of truth - and that these tools of the operative
mason’s art indicate the labors he is to perform,
the dangers he is to encounter, and the
preparations he is to make in the uprearing of
that spiritual temple wherein his soul will find rest
forever and forevermore; then, indeed will the
attentive ear have received the sound from the
instructive tongue, and the mysteries of
Freemasonry shall be safely lodged in the
repository of faithful breasts.
SD: (S) Worshipful Master.
WM: Brother Senior Deacon.
SD: I have the pleasure of presenting Brother ____,
who has made an advance, emblematically,
through a porch, up a flight of winding stairs,
consisting of three, five, and even steps, through
an outer and inner door, into a place representing
the Middle Chamber of King Solomon’s Temple,
and now awaits your pleasure.
WM: My Brother, I congratulate you on arriving at a
place representing the Middle Chamber of King
Solomon’s Temple.
It was there our ancient brethren had their names
recorded as faithful workmen; it is here that you
are entitled to have yours recorded as such.
Brother Secretary, please make the proper
record.
Secy: Worshipful Master, the record will be made.
WM: It was there also our ancient Brethren received
their wages, consisting of Corn, Wine, and Oil,
emblematical of nourishment, refreshment, and
joy, which was to signify that our ancient Brethren,
when passed to this degree, were entitled to
wages sufficient to procure not only the
necessaries and comforts of life, but many of its
superfluities; and may your industrious habits and
strict application to business procure for you a
plenty of the Corn of nourishment, the Wine of
refreshment, and the Oil of joy.
WM: * * *.
WM: The letter G, to which your attention was directed
on your passage hither, has a still greater and
more significant meaning. It is the initial of the
grand and sacred name of God, before whom all
Masons, from the youngest Entered Apprentice
who stands in the Northeast corner of the Lodge,
to the Worshipful Master who presides in the East,
should most humbly, reverently, and devoutly bow.
WM: *. My Brother, this concludes the ceremonies of
this degree, and if you will remain standing, I will
repeat to you the charge.
