Firing Glass with York Rite Symbolism

Here is a German Firing Glass with a predominately York Rite theme.  It is copper-wheel engraved with with a scene of the "Oriental Chair" within the Lodge and various working tools.  It has the Masonic altar surrounded by the "Three Lesser Lights" and the Pillars Boaz and Jachin. The crossed swords are also present on this glass... The sword is in chivalry the ensign or symbol of knighthood.  Saint Palaye calls the sword "the most honorable badge of chivalry, and a symbol of the labor the knight was to encounter."   The charge to a Knight Templar, that he should never draw his sword unless convinced of the justice of the cause in which he is engaged, nor to sheath it until his enemies were subdued, finds also its origin in the custom of the Middle Ages.  Swords were generally manufactured with a legend on the blade.  Among the most common of these legends was that used on swords made in Spain, many examples of which are still to be found in modern collections.  That legend is:  No me saques sin rason.   No me embaines sin honor; that is, Do not draw me without justice.   Do not sheathe me without honor.

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