AT CLOSING.
Brethren:
We are now about to quit this sacred retreat of friendship and virtue, to mix again with the world. Amidst its concerns and employments, forget not the duties which you have heard so frequently inculcated, and so forcibly recommended in this Lodge. Be diligent, prudent, temperate, discreet. Remember that, around this altar, you have promised to befriend and relieve every brother who shall need your assistance. You have promised, in the most friendly manner, to remind him of his errors, and aid a reformation. These generous principles are to extend further. Every human being has a claim upon your kind offices. Do good unto all. Recommend it more especially "to the household of the faithful." Finally, brethren, be ye all of one mind; live in peace; and may the God of love and peace delight to dwell with and bless you.
PRAYER AT OPENING THE GRAND LODGE.
O! most glorious and eternal Lord God, the world's Supreme Architect, the source of light, of life, and of love, we, thy servants, assembled in solemn Grand Lodge, would now implore thy gracious protection and favor.
In thy name, O Lord, we have assembled, and in thy name we desire to proceed in all our doings. Let the Spirit of Peace and of Love rest upon us. Let the wisdom of our sublime Institution so subdue every discordant passion within us, so harmonize and enrich our hearts with a portion of thine own love and goodness, that the Grand Lodge, at this time, and at every time, may be a sincere though humble copy of that Order, Beauty, and Unity which reign forever before thy throne.
Enlighten, we beseech thee, the dark corners of the earth with the rays of our benevolent Institution, that all the ends of the world may know thee, and every human being be taught to love his fellow-man.
Let thy protection be over all the members of the mystic family, wheresoever dispersed, and bless their lawful labors. Graciously accept these our supplications and prayers, for the sake of thy most holy and glorious name.
Response.—So mote it be. Amen.
ENTERED APPRENTICE'S DEGREE.
SYMBOLISM OF THE DEGREE.
The first degree, or that of the Entered Apprentice, is intended in its symbolic signification to furnish a representation of youth just entering on the struggles, the trials, and duties of an earthly and responsible existence. On his first admission into the Lodge, the candidate is reminded of the weak and helpless state of man on his entrance into the world—unprepared for the exigencies of the present, ignorant of the vicissitudes of the future, and dependent for his safety and very existence on that God in whom alone, in all trials and difficulties, is there any sure and abiding trust.
And as the youth is prepared by a useful and virtuous education for his journey through life, so the Apprentice obtains in his degree those first instructions whereon to erect his future moral and Masonic edifice. He now receives the elementary details of that universal language in which hereafter he is to converse with his brethren of all nations, so as to understand and be understood by Masons of every tongue and dialect under the sun. He is directed to take, as a staff and scrip for his journey, a knowledge of all the virtues that expand the heart and dignify the soul. Secrecy, obedience, humility, trust in God, purity of conscience, economy of time, are all inculcated by symbolic ceremonies too impressive in their character ever to be forgotten. And, lastly, as charity forms the chief corner-stone of all the Masonic virtues, the beauty and holiness of this attribute are depicted in emblematic modes which no spoken language could equal. His degree of the Apprentice is, in short, one of probation and preparation for a more advanced position, and more exalted privileges and duties.
FIRST LECTURE.
The first lecture of Freemasonry, or that appropriated to the degree of an Entered Apprentice, is divided into three sections. In this lecture virtue is painted in the most beautiful colors, and the duties of morality are strictly enforced. In it we are taught such useful lessons as prepare the mind for a regular advancement in the principles of knowledge and philosophy; and these are imprinted on the memory by lively and sensible images, to influence our conduct in the proper discharge of the duties of social life.
Every candidate, before his reception, is required to make the following declarations to the Senior Deacon, in the presence of the Stewards, in a room adjacent to the Lodge.
Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, that, unbiased by the improper solicitation of friends, and uninfluenced by mercenary motives, you freely and voluntarily offer yourself a candidate for the mysteries of Masonry?
I do.
Do you sincerely declare, upon your honor, that you are prompted to solicit the privileges of Masonry by a favorable opinion conceived of the Institution, and a desire of knowledge?
I do.
Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, that you will cheerfully conform to all the ancient usages and established customs of the fraternity?
I do.
FIRST SECTION.
The first section of the Entered Apprentice's Lecture principally consists of a recapitulation of the ceremonies of initiation. But, on this account, a knowledge of it is highly necessary to every Mason, that he may be the better enabled to assist in the correct performance of the ritual of the degree. It is, however, introduced by some general heads, which qualify us to examine the rights of others to our privileges, while they prove our claims to the character we profess.
It is, of course, impossible, in a monitorial work, to give a full explanation of the various symbols and ceremonies which are used in the inculcation of moral and religious truths; but an allusion, in even general terms, to the most important ones, in the order in which they occur, will be sufficient to lead the contemplative Mason to a further examination of their import.
THE SHOCK OF ENTRANCE.
In the symbolic science of Masonry, the Lodge is often represented as a symbol of life. In this case, Lodge labor becomes the symbol of the labor of life, its duties, trials, and temptations, and the Mason is the type of the laborer and actor in that life. The Lodge is, then, at the time of the reception of an Entered Apprentice, a symbol of the world, and the initiation is a type of the new life upon which the candidate is about to enter. There he stands without our portals, on the threshold of this new Masonic life, in darkness, helplessness, and ignorance. Having been wandering amid the errors and covered over with the pollutions of the outer and profane world, he comes inquiringly to our doors, seeking the new birth, and asking a withdrawal of the vail which conceals divine truth from his uninitiated sight. And here, as with Moses at the burning bush, the solemn admonition is given, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground;" and ceremonial preparations surround him, all of a significant character, to indicate to him that some great change is about to take place in his moral and intellectual condition. He is already beginning to discover that the
