THE
SQUARE
Short Talk Bulletin - Vol.II April,
1924 No.4
Author Unknown
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.
Let 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: "I will 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."
